Bleach Grand Prix
by UnitedOsprey1991
Summary: AU: It is 2070 the 50th year of the World Grand Prix. Join Ichigo and the rookie Kurosaki-Ishida team as the brave their rivals, the media, the drama and each other. They may find someone worth racing for as well. Rated T. Ichihime possibly Ichitatski as well if not OC/Tatsuki. OC/Uryu. OSPREY...SWOOOSh
1. Chapter 1

**UnitedOsprey1991: Alright I know you want more of my main story but I have a side project that will be interesting. This is an AU of Bleach where the main characters are race car drivers and/or crew and pres. I am a big NASCAR fan and a race fan in general so I came up with this idea. This chapter here will set up the teams. It will be a mixture of Bleach original teams and real life teams with drivers that are descendants from real life drivers so they will be OC to a certain extent. I will also like you the readers to review and send me either by PM or review which tracks to go to. There will be thirty rounds and the only tracks for certain are the Daytona road course, the Indianapolis road course, Road America in Wisconsin Silverstone in England and the Suzuka circuit in Japan and I will go to them twice. Not sure which German track to use though. I want at least 12-14 ideas so that's 7-9 for you guys to fill in and I need help. I could come up with a couple OC tracks but there are good ones out there. Also it will deal with the drama off the track like life and sponsors. No restrictions other than no ovals as I want to appeal to other audiences. Shutting up let's meet the drivers and their supporting cast**

**I own nothing at all except the OCs I am creating for this. This assumes that the various racing circuits merged in the future and have a leagues system similar to soccer like in IGPX. This is in 2070**

**Prologue: Let's meet the teams: Action begins next chapter if you guys like it**

(Japanese Teams. Nine teams. Three from Japan Three from America and Three from Europe. Also a lot of older drivers retired so I will point them out)

Team Kurosaki-Ishida Enterprises

Bio: A team created from the merging of two large families through the marriage of Masaki Ishida and Isshin Kurosaki. A rookie team just called up to replace the team that finished last in the previous year they are ready to show they belong in the big leagues. Manufacturer: Honda Base: Karakura Town, Japan.

Drivers:

Ichigo Kurosaki: Age: 24 Hometown: Karakura Town Japan: Nationality: Japanese. A hot headed driver on the track he is probably one of the nicest guys off the track. He has gotten into some discipline issues however most of the time was in defense. He is a cousin to fellow driver Uryu (spelling please) Ishida and bachelor to his father's dismay. Drives the no. 15.

Uryu Ishida: Age 24 Hometown: Karakura Town Japan Nationality: Japanese. By contrast to his cousin Ichigo he is cool calm and collected. A number of his wins were to his cool head. He is also more distant but he gets along ok with all of his team members. Drives the no. 32.

Andrew Michaels: Age 22 Hometown Jacksonville Florida Nationality American. Andrew is a driver just hired by Kurosaki Ishida. He impressed a lot of people in the lower leagues but he made fast friends with Ichigo and chose that team when a spot became available following the retirement of Jushiro Ukitake to illness. Has a knack for pulling wins out of nowhere. Drives the 91

Sado "Chad" Yasotora. Age: 23 Hometown Karakura Town, Japan nationality: Mexican. A transplant from Mexico at a young age. He made friends with Ichigo and went into racing at the same time. They are inseparable as friends. A tall man of 6 foot he drives the 66

Other supporting cast: Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa. Both aged 23. A reporter and camerawoman that gets assigned to the Kurosaki Team. Orihime is a bit clumsy but is a good person and not willing to hurt anyone (Will be OOC). Her best friend is her camerawoman Tatsuki who will go to extreme lengths to protect Orihime.

Kuchiki (Spelling) Industries

Bio: A team funded by the prestigious Kuchiki clan. Run by Byakuya Kuchiki and his wife Hisana they are by the book. They are an honorable team with 160 wins and 4 grand prix team titles and 6 individual titles but none sense Souske entered the game. They are an imposing force in the grand prix. Finished 3rd last year. Manufacturer: Toyota

Drivers

Renji Abarai: Age: 24 Nationality: Japanese: Hometown: Hiroshima, Japan. A hot-headed driver that is dating Byakuya's sister-in-law Rukia who works in the pits. He worked his way up to the grand prix who then was spotted by Byakuya. He has a healthy rivalry with Ichigo Kurosaki and drives the 64. Finished 3rd in points

Ikkaku Mandarame: Age: 33 Nationality: Chinese Hometown Kyoto Japan. A driver who takes pleasure in wrecking cars. He came from a former team that folded due to costs. Byakuya gave him a job on the condition he stop wrecking people. Prone to anger drives the 011. Finished 8th in points

Soi Fong: Age 26 Nationality: Chinese Hometown Tokyo, Japan. A cold-hearted driver she resents the Kurosaki team for taking Yoruichi Shihonen an ace mechanic because of her commitments to Kisuke Urahara. She has several wins to her credit but doesn't like to socialize. Nicknamed the Hornet, she drives the 002. Finished 9th in points

Kira Izuru Age: 25 Nationality: Japanese Hometown: Sapporo, Japan. A lonely individual who was called up when Gin Ichimaru defected to Souske Limited. He has several good wins but has horrible luck on the track that keeps him depressed. Drives the 003. Finished 23rd in points

Other associated members: Rukia Kuchiki Age twenty-three. She dates driver Renji Abarai. An ace in the pits capable of changing a tire in two seconds flat. Has sibling rivalry with Ichigo and briefly dated but were better off friends.

Nanao Ise and Kyoraku Shunsui: Film team assigned to Kuchiki for years. The two are dating. Nanao films Kyoraku who seems to be drunk half the time.

Souske Limited

A ruthless team that has members with nasty reputations run by Souske Aizen. They have dominated the last decade or so. Combined this team has five team titles and seven individual including two of the last three in team and the three of the previous four individual titles both ended by drivers from Hendrick Motorsports. Finished 2nd by one point in team title hunt. Based in Hiroshima on reclaimed land. Manufacturer: Mazda

Drivers:

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez Age: 25 Nationality: Spanish Hometown: Barcelona, Spain. A playboy by nature he is ruthless on the track. He will gladly crash out to take other drivers with him. Drives the 06 he finished 10th in points

Ulquiorra Cifer Age: 25 Nationality: Norwegian (He's pale so I came up with a country that would fit his skin) Hometown: Munich, Germany. A quiet person he has won the two titles during Sosuke's dynasty and twenty- nine total victories. He is relentless on the track and calculating as well he is able to win through strategy more than anyone. Drives the 04 he finished second by one point to Serenity Gordon he will be looking forward to dethroning him.

Tier Harribel: Age: 25 Nationality Argentinean Hometown: Buenos Aires. A cold persona beneath a sexy mask she has been voted hottest driver three years running. Unlike the other members of Souske she drives with a purpose and that is to stay out of the slums with her three charges Sung-sung, Apache, and Mila Rose. Nicknamed the Shark she drives the 03 and finished 7th in points. Has eight total wins

Gin Ichimaru: Age 32 Nationality Japanese Hometown: Tokyo. Nicknamed the fox because of his looks he is always smiling in some way. He has won the title for Kuchiki but defected when his contract ran out to Souske. Drives the 009 and finished 11th in points.

Other members: Loly and Menoly fangirl reporters assigned to Souske Limited.

(Arrancar will play the pit crew)

American teams.

Hendrick Motorsports

Bio: A legendary team in the decades before the grand prix they have won several World team and individual titles. They are the descendants of four drivers from the pre-grand prix era and therefore racing is in their blood. Defending team champions: Based in Concord, NC. Manufacturer: Chevrolet

Serenity Gordon: Age: 26 Nationality: American Hometown: Vallejo, California. A driver descended from Jeff Gordon legendary NASCAR driver and is a third generation driver. She has forty wins already. She book ends the Souske dynasty he won the individual title before and after Ulquiorra's titles so she has two titles to her credit. She won last year's title by one point. She drives the 24 in honor of her grandpa.

Robert Johnson: Age: 25 Nationality American: Hometown Vallejo, CA A cool driver he descends from five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson. Also a third generation driver he has a crush on Serenity essentially growing up together. He has only been driving for three years but is already impressing people with ten wins. Drives the 48 in honor of his Grandpa. Finished 12th

Dale Earnhardt IV Age: 25 American from Concord, NC. A fifth Generation Driver he carries the name of his great-grandpa the late Dale Earnhardt Senior. Only been in the Grand Prix two years but broke through with three wins last year on the way to an 6th place finish. Drives the 88 in honor of his Grandpa.

Ralph Dillon Age: 25 American from Concord, NC. His great-great grandpa was Richard Childress who was an owner in the old NASCAR. He has a legacy to live up to as he is a rookie in this campaign. He drives the Black no.3 that some say Dale Earnhardt haunts to this day.

Other notable: Benjamin Bestwick. Allen Bestwick's grandson assigned to the Hendrick camp.

Rousch Fenway Racing

Another holdover from NASCAR. A legendary team also made up of descendants of drivers who drove for them and run by Jack Rousch's granddaughter. Hasn't won a title in a while but in the early days were consistently in contention with Hendrick and won five team titles. Finished 8th by two points and staved off elimination. Based out of Concord, NC and drives Fords.

Patricia Stenhouse Age 26: American from South Bend, ID. A new driver following the retirement of Daniel Martin. She descends from Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. She is ready to step up to plate for her team. Drives the 10 as tribute to her grandma.

Michael Kenseth Age: 33 American from Lake Elkhart WI. Descendant of Matt Kenseth. He won thirty-two times on track and two titles before the Japanese domination. A smart driver drives the 17 as tribute to his grandpa. Finished 14th in points.

Allen Regan Age: 26 American from Lexington Kentucky. He just joined the team after Jason Busch was sent packing. He descends from driver David Regan and is ready for the world grand prix. Drives the 6 car

Alexandra Edwards Age 27 American from St. Louis Missouri. Descended from Carl Edwards. Twenty wins and was in the hunt last year until misfortune dropped her to a tie for 10th

Stewart-Haas Racing

A team descended from the Tony Stewart owned team in NASCAR. Before the European domination they were in contention with Hendrick and Rousch racing wining a couple of times. Based out of Concord, NC drives Dodges. Has trouble with the law.

Finished 6th in the standings

Archie Stewart Age: 33 American from Speedway Indiana. A cocky driver he has gotten in trouble to the point of suspension which took him out of the hunt two years ago. He drives the 20 from his Grandfather. Finished 4th and has twenty-fie career wins

Michael Busch Age: 27 from Las Vegas, NV. Descended from Kurt and Kyle Busch he inherited their mean streak. He is on his third team and has been told this is his last chance. He drives the 18 finished 15th last year.

Shawn Newman Age: 28 from South Bend, ID. Descends from Ryan Newman has 10 wins to his credit and finished 16th last year. Drives the 039

Marcus Andretti: Age 26 from Indianapolis. Part of the legendary Andretti family he has a legacy to live up to. He enters his Rookie year after spending time in the minor leagues drives the 051.

European Teams

Team Audi Europe

Descending from the sports car team Audi they dominated for years until the Japanese teams came along. They still compete competitively but they keep being beaten out. They finished fourth last year and drives Audis.

Brian Mcnish: Age 36 from Manchester England. Descending from Allen Mcnish longtime driver of Audi. One of the oldest drivers in the garage he finished 8th last year. He is a smart and wise driver who has thirty-one wins to his credit and was the last European driver to win it eight years ago. He drives the no. 1

Bjorn Kristensen: Age thirty-four from Norway. Like Mcnish he is an elder statesman in the garage. Tom Kristensen is his grandpa. He finished 11th last year driving the 008.

Raoul Garcia: Age 25 from Sevilla Spain. A rookie who got to the big leagues through effort. He is one of the few drivers right now that doesn't have a famous driver in his veins. But he grew up watching the legends and now he is ready to win in the 004.

Rebecca Kirkland: 26 years old from London, England. She is ready to race especially against her idol Tier Harribel and has skills inherited from her parents who won a lot in the lower tiers. She drives the 007.

Red Bull Racing

Go Big or Go Home is Red Bull's motto (not really but it fits). They have sponsored teams since 2008. Red Bull makes their cars with the help of legendary manufacturer Porsche. Drivers of this team have won it twice during the European time of domination. Finished 4th last year,

Robert Vettal: Age 27 from Salzburg, Austria. He is descended from World Champion Sebastian Vettal. He finished 19th after some bad luck and sabotage. He drives the number 11 and has twenty career wins.

Jason Webber: Age 26 from Sydney, Australia. Also descended from a driver this time Mark Webber. He is a kid on and off the track. Finished 17th due to a variety of issues. Eighteen trophies can be attributed to him and his number 041.

Ralph Hamilton Age: 29 from Liverpool England. Descended from Lewis Hamilton he claims ten wins in his number 22. He finished tied for 13th

Felipe Massa III: Age 26 from Sao Paulo Brazil. Descending from Flippe Massa he has just been called up to replace a retiring Ralph Räikkönen. He is a hot shot Brazilian who is likely to get into fights

Team Ferrari

Legendary car manufacturer has been part of racing almost since the beginning of racing. They are in a dry spell having only won one team title the fifty years of the World Grand Prix. They are most noted for being the car of Michael Schumacher during his seven straight titles in F1. They also had several class wins in events like the 24 hours of Le Mans. They drive Ferraris obviously and finished 7th in the team standings. This year they could also be called team Fem Fatale as three of the four members are female.

George Schumacher: Descendent of legendary Michael Schumacher. He wants to step out of his Grandfather's shadow. He was Rookie of the year last year and finished 14th with two wins in the number 10

Jessica Rosburg: Age 27 from Munich, Germany. Nico Rosburg is her grandpa and is expected to be a contender in the rookie of the year challenge of which there are thirteen drivers. Drives the number 12

Francesca Alonso Age twenty-eight from Madrid Spain. Her Grandpa is Fernando Alonso. She has eight career wins in the number 81 she finished 22nd in points

Maria Robertson: 28 from Brussels Belgium. She has eight career wins as well but she finished last year in 19th in her 42.

**UO: FINALLY got through the names. So here's the roster. Comment review or PM what you think Flamers are not tolerated. Please help me with the tracks. Also check out my other stories and Kage Biju's and Spartan719's stories they are good. Also if anyone can make a picture for this story like a 50th anniversary thing or something involving the bleach characters that would be great. So I will be splitting time between this and my series of stories for now**

**Alright then**

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

**Edited 8/14/13: Switched Red Bull's cars to Porsche. Infiniti is Japanese apparently. Porsche I know is German. I don't own either at all.**


	2. Qualifying and new teammates

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

**UO: Well I see this story is getting more press than my Journey Story. Well I will be splitting time between this and my other one so review or pm with critiques for that one please**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach which belongs to Tite Kubo. All driver names are not mine with the exception of those under the Bleach trademark. The only ones I own are Andrew, Rebecca, and Maria. The rest are theoretical characters from real drivers which I don't own.**

Normal: Dialogue

_"Italics and quotations": Radio and track announcer_

'_Italics and apostrophe: Thoughts_

**Bold: Yelling**

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_**

Chapter 1: On the starting line: Qualifying and new crew members

Location: Melbourne, Australia Date: February 18th 2070 three days before the world grand prix season begins.

Melbourne, Australia one of the largest cities in Australia. Since the change to renewable energy it has become one of biggest cities in the world. A population of twelve million now live in an area that has access to undisturbed water. Through a special molecular process they are now able to take water and convert it to a hydrogen fuel. With an endless cycle of water the countries with access to large amounts of water and wealth were now the big players on the market.

What this fuel did was increase a need for speed. Introduced at a time when diesel and other energies reach their limits and ran out the cars that got access to these fuels were now the fastest things out there. To fuel the need for speed the World Grand Prix was introduced by combining some of the big names in the racing world. Le Mans, NASCAR, F1, Indy Car and others merged their leagues into a system similar to the second most popular sport soccer. This merging also necessitated the building of larger permanent tracks to fill the stands. Now in its fiftieth year the world watches in anticipation for the start of the season.

A Red Camary was speeding along the road to Melbourne track. This facility was the site of the first round of the Grand Prix, the Down Under 400 (miles I'm American so I'm using the imperial system). In the car were two women. The driver on the right side was a black haired woman with hazel eyes and a serious expression. She was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt. Her passenger was just the opposite in every way. She had a cheery expression with red hair grey eyes and a decent chest. She was wearing Purple top and orange skirt. This was Tatsuki Arisawa and Orihime Inoue. They were a camera crew working with National Geographic. As part of the 50th anniversary the governing body allowed nine camera crews to be imbedded with the teams. Being rookies they got assigned to the rookie team.

"Damn it we are late. Hime what took you so long" Tatsuki asked exasperated. "I am sorry Tatsuki-chan but as I was getting ready I thought the little blue men took my comb and then I lost the keys." Orihime said with a smile. Tatsuki and Orihime were childhood friends so Tatsuki was used to her quirks. When her brother died Tatsuki's family took Orihime in and treated her like their own daughter. When Orihime went into journalism Tatsuki was right behind her as her camerawoman. "So who are we covering?" Orihime asked. "We are going to be entrenched with the Kurosaki-Ishida Enterprises team. A rookie team on the grand stage. All four have known each other since they were kids. Two of them are cousins one went to school with the cousins and the other has been a long-time friend of theirs" "Sounds like the perfect family" Orihime mused. "Yeah except they have differing personalities and sounds like they would mesh together" "So do we but we are still friends" "You have a point. Look we are here." Tatsuki said as they pulled up to the track.

The Melbourne Albert Park circuit was built as a replacement for the street circuit. It is 3.5 miles built almost similar to the street circuit but was made wider for the larger cars. It could hold 150,000 spectators which was about middle of the pack when it came to attendance. Tatsuki showed her press pass and was shown in. They parked and started walking towards the garage.

After filming a couple of segments for their show and taking a couple of pictures they proceeded to try to find their assigned team. Only they have never been to the track so they were lost.

"Mou…Tatsuki I think we are lost." Orihime said as they walked around looking for the haulers that held the teams they were covering. Tatsuki was about to retort when she ran into someone.

"Oh sorry mam I wasn't paying attention" the man said in what she thought was a southern U.S accent. She looked up and saw a brown-haired man with sunglasses wearing a blue t-shirt and khaki shorts. "It's alright I wasn't looking. I'm Tatsuki Arisawa and this is Orihime Inoue. We are reporters. We are with National Geographic and we are looking for the Kurosaki-Ishida garage." "Well you are in luck ladies I'm one of the drivers. I'm Andrew Michaels the replacement for Jushiro Ukitake. Come on I'll show you."

The brown haired individual walked alongside the ladies. With his permission they decided to do a segment while walking to the garage about how he got into the business with Tatsuki manning the camera and Orihime asking the questions.

"So my father built me a race car at age 5 never looked back. I have won numerous trophies in various divisions. When Kurosaki-Ishida called on recommendation from my friend Ichigo well we wouldn't be talking now would we" Andrew smiled getting the girls to laugh. "And cut. Great take you two" Tatsuki said. Orihime smiled but then she tripped before she fell someone caught her. When she looked she blushed. It was an orange-haired man with spiky hair and brown eyes. He was dressed casually in a brown rider jacket blue jeans and white shirt. "You alright mam" Orihime just nodded and stood up "Well not the way to run into two drivers but whatever. Girls meet Ichigo Kurosaki the so-called captain of this team" Drew said. "Captain my ass only reason is I am older than you. Now what are these girls doing here" Ichigo said. "First easy on the language in front of ladies, second they are our reporters that are going to be entrenched with us this season. Something about Nat Geo or something like that. Third don't take that tone with me I can still run circles around you" Drew said with a stern look. "You and your southern gentlemanly ways…sigh…I am sorry." Here Ichigo smiled getting a small blush from the ladies present. I am Ichigo Kurosaki age 24 one of the three returning drivers of this team from last year. Drew we got a team meeting come on" Ichigo said walking away. "Don't mind him. He might be a tough guy on the track but he has a big thing for his family. His father is his crew chief his uncle is the chief of Uryuu's team. One of his sisters works the pits the other is the spotter. You will find that we are big on the whole family thing in this garage. Come on we need you to meet the rest of team.

The girls were led to a hover plane. It had a huge hanger that could fit multiple cars. The girls saw that two of the cars were being off loaded by crew members. Andrew led the girls through the hanger as Tatsuki filmed the plane. They entered a meeting room to see five people already there. Ichigo they already recognized and he had a scowl on his face at the person talking to him. It was a black haired man that resembled a Billy goat in a Hawaiian shirt and a lab coat with blue jeans. Two of the other occupants had aloof looks on their faces. One he blue hair and grey casuals with glasses; the other looked like an older version of the blue haired man but had white hair. The last one was huge for a driver (They tend to be pretty small to fit in the cars) who looked Mexican with dark skin and curly brown hair wearing blue jeans and a red shirt.

"Ichigo why won't you find a girl, oh no Masaki" pulling out a picture of a beautiful brown-haired woman "our son is gay he will never give us grandkids" only to be punched by his son and start one of their "epic" fight. The newcomers looked on in shock. Andrew turned to the blue-haired man "Is…is this normal Uryuu" Andrew said pointing at the bickering duo. The now named Uryuu sighed "My Cousin and Uncle are idiots" the two bickering fools turned on him "WE ARE NOT IDIOTS" "STOP COPYING ME" the two started bickering. Andrew sighed  
"I think I better start carrying Aspirin" Andrew said as he walked around the table. "Stop" everyone stop what they were doing and turned to the giant in the room "we have a meeting so please stop" Isshin recovered his wits. "Right…sorry; before we begin we need to introduce two people. Everyone this is Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa two reporters who are going to be attached to our team this year. Orihime Tatsuki meet the other drivers of Kurosaki-Ishida. I see you have met my son Ichigo" Ichigo waved causing Orihime to blush slightly. "And you have meet our new driver Andrew" Andrew had sat down and propped his feet up. "The blue haired man is Uryuu my nephew the white haired man is my brother-in-law Ryuken Ishida. The big guy is Sado Yasotora we call him Chad" at each name said person nodded. "Wait you said Uryuu was your nephew that means he and Ichigo are cousins" Tatsuki realized. "An unfortunate circumstance of my Aunt marrying him" Uryuu said causing the grown-ups to flinch. "Uryuu I loved your Aunt. Please not here" Isshin said serious. Tatsuki and Orihime who had sat down looked at each other and turned to Andrew "What happened" Orihime whispered "Not my place to tell you" Andrew said.

Isshin cleared his throat "Alright now let's begin. First off we are finally at the big time after four years in the lower leagues. I am proud of those that help us get here. Andrew I know you may have been friends with my family but it don't mean squat here in the Grand Prix. You may have been a big shot in NASCAR's A Division but here you are just a rookie. So I want you to prove my trust in my son he chose the right driver" "Sir I came to win and I thought a team that has a similar drive to prove themselves would do that" Andrew said. Isshin nodded "Alright then. Next is the season. As part of the 50th anniversary season they decided to go all of the famous tracks that have been run in the World Grand Prix so we are going to tracks like Daytona, Silverstone, Abu Dhabi, Sao Paolo and Indianapolis. Some like Melbourne have been run for a long time while some like Daytona haven't been run in a few years. Now then let us talk about this track.

Here Isshin activated a hologram. "The Melbourne speedway is designed after the old street course with one big exception." He pulls up the old circuit "They removed the chicane at the old 9 10 and renumbered them from there. They also made it much wider and easier to pass for design of the cars. Turn 1 is probably one of the best chances to pass people on the track for its slow and tight enough to throw off people not taking it correctly. You enter flat out into two into turn 3. We have good brakes so this might be where we can pass a lot of people I know the Mazdas and the Chevys have issues here while the Fords and the Audis could use the turn to their advantage. That turn sets up Turn 4 and opens into a straight into turn 5 which is a fast turn. Turns 6 and 7 are tricky because 6 is obscured and you cannot see the brake zone. Turn 7 is the left into turn 8 which is a flat turn into a long straight. Turns 9 and 10 is a fast left-right chicane that forces you onto the curbs. Turn 11 you can use your brakes to pass but be careful you could end up in the wall. Turn 12 you have to let off the throttle to stay in control. Turn 13 needs to be taken in second gear and is also a prime over taking spot into turn 14 where it opens into the straight. And that is one lap at Melbourne."

At each turn Tatsuki noticed that they were taking notes on the track, Drew especially since he was new here in the Grand Prix.

"Now then the last thing I want you to know to be careful. Especially of Souske Limited" Isshin pulled up the screen with five people. "Souske Aizen runs the team and he is calculating as they come. His drivers are all know for being aggressive especially this guy" he zoomed in on the blue haired man "Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Known as the Panther he will tear anyone on his way to victory lane." Another zoom in "Ulquiorra Cifer as well, he only lost last year because he finished behind the champion Serenity Gordon and has won two of the last three driver's titles.

"Now switching topics, Serenity Gordon is a part of Hendrick Motorsports a long time driving team with roots going back to the 1980's." Isshin pulled up another picture this time of Hendrick Motorsport. "The Chevy team they couldn't be more different from Souske team. Friendly down to earth and a sense of honor ingrained into them from their southern roots" Isshin said separating the pictures. "They all have champions in their blood especially Serenity and Robert" pulling up the pictures. "They are the grandkids of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Their fathers were also race champions in the lower tiers and won a couple times in the Grand Prix." Isshin said. Drew saw Serenity's picture and was entranced. Brown hair and for some reason her eyes hypnotized he shook it off when the projection ended.

"Now then suit up we need to practice. Girls you may want to grab ear phones." Tatsuki and Orihime nodded and left for the garage.

Ryuken led the girls to the garage which were just outside the plane. The girls were awed at the garage and then saw the machines. One was white and black with a red 15 on the side. The second was a reddish garnet color with gold striping. A golden 91 was on its side. The third was dark blue to the front becoming almost a whitish blue in the back with a 32 in black outlines. The final on was black and red with Green on the spoiler. A red and black 66 in contrasting colors to the car meaning a red 6 on the black front and a red 6 on the black end. An eagle with a snake in its mouth, the symbol on the Mexican flag was holding the 66 on the roof in its talons.

"Aren't they something? Feel free to video tape this." Tatsuki turned on the recorder as he spoke about the cars. "900 horsepower 7 speed transmission. These Honda G15 race cars represent the latest in Honda racing technology. The Honda racing program once upon a time competed in the Le Mans racing series against the likes of Audi and Ferrari. Now with our help they hope to reclaim the glory they once had.

"And we will Uncle Ryuken" the three turned to see the boys dressed in similar colored fire suits to their race cars. Orihime blushed slightly at Ichigo but he didn't notice. "Alright in the cars there are a couple of cars on the track so be careful" They nodded and strapped in. Orihime noticed a large device being secured to their head and attached to the seat. "Ano…what are these" Orihime pointed to the neck device. "Those are the HANS devices young lady" a new voice said. They turned to see two new people. One was a pale blond fellow with a carefree look wearing a bucket hat and wear a mechanic's uniform under a green hakama. The other was a purple-haired woman in a tight fitting uniform with a gentle smile. "Who are you and what is the HANS device?" Tatsuki had turned away from the device to shoot the newcomers. "I am Kisuke Urahara and this is my partner Yoruichi Shihonen I am the crew chief for the 91 car and Yoruichi is going to head the 66. We also help in the garage and we are the primary mechanics if we can't fix then it's completely broke. To answer your second question the Head and Neck Support devices or HANS is a safety innovation developed in the 20th century to reduce the movement of the head in an accident. It wasn't until several notable drivers were killed at the turn of the millennium that all racing series started using it. When the Grand Prix started up it naturally came with it." "Alright start it up boys" Ryuken called out. In their cockpits they flipped the ignition and starter switches causing the engines to roar to life. Backing out of the garage they went towards the track and so did the rest of the crew.

"Alright girls now we begin first practice. Tomorrow is qualifying and Sunday is the race. That is typically the schedule" Isshin said walking to the wall with the reporter duo and putting on his headphones. Isshin Ryuken and the two mechanics pulled out stopwatches. "Alright when you guys come by we will start timing you.

Tatsuki grabbed her big camera and started taking pictures. They noticed another car on the track coming towards them. "Who was that" Orihime asked. "That was the 20 that was Archie Stewart he is a favorite to win this year. He is a bit reckless but he is a good man." Orihime nodded and went back to watching the practice. Soon the team cars showed u and zoomed by. Tatsuki was quick on the finger taking pictures. Another car came around and they were able to pick out the number. It was the 06. "Guys be really carful Souske is on track we just saw Grimmjow's car. The team came around and completed the lap. "1:25.54 for Ichigo 1:26:01 for Drew 1:26.13 Uryuu Chad 1:26.34. How are the cars feeling.

"My car is fine maybe a little loose in the right handers." Ichigo said as he rounded the first turn.

"My car is fine though it's tight in the left handers. See ya Ichigo" Drew said as Ichigo's car got loose in turn four.

"My car is loose all around I can't steer I'm losing position on the grove" Uryuu said as he almost spun.

"Car is tight though manageable" Chad said.

Over the next two hours various teams came on the track trying to get a feel for the cars. Isshin and Ryuken filled the girls in on the teams and they filmed what went into fixing up the cars. Practice now over the cars were parked in the garage. "Alright pack up. Girls do you have anywhere to sleep" "Uh yeah" "Well you are going to be riding with us the rest of the season right. So Ichigo, Andrew escort them back to their hotel and or rental place and bring them back after checking out. We'll work on sleeping arrangements" Isshin "Don't tell me what to do dad" Ichigo growled. He sighed "Are we taking my car or yours" "May as well take mine. You go with the girls I'll follow. How far is it from the track." "About 20 km to the airport and 15 to the hotel, we need to pack up" The two nodded and went to escort the girls. About an hour later the boys were waiting in hotel's parking lot. Drew's car was blue Ford Mustang with red racing trims"

"Ugh girls always take the longest don't they?" Andrew asked in the A/C of the car. Despite it being February it was in the 80's (20's Celsius). "I wouldn't be so eager to kill us with your driving" Ichigo teased "My driving is fine. Australia needs to put their cars on the right side of the road:" Andrew growled. As they were in a British country the roads were reversed. Given they grew up in America and Japan that fact almost got them killed on the way to the hotel. Andrew changed topics "So what do you think of the girls?" "They are nice girls the red head Orihime seems to be a little naïve. Tatsuki looks like she wants to hurt me" "She's protective. I think they have been living together a long time meaning they grew up together. I wonder why" Drew mused. Ichigo sighed. "What?" Andrew said "Promise this doesn't leave the car" Ichigo said. "Scout's honor" "I think they are both beautiful Orihime especially" "Really?" "Yeah I think her demeanor is just what our garage needs. We may be a family but we act so serious. "Would you date her?" "I think she is out of my league" "Ichigo she would be out of my league I think I would be too nice to her. Why would she be out of yours." " Well.. she is too…" Ichigo stuttered "Innocent for you?" Drew answered. "Yeah" Andrew leaned back in his seat. "Maybe you could protect that innocence. Your name means he who protects right" "I made that clear the first day we met" Ichigo growled. "Well maybe you protect that innocence. From my limited Japanese vocabulary the kanji for Hime can mean princess right? Well why not be her knight" Ichigo sat there looking contemplative. "Just remember what I said alright." Ichigo nodded. They heard knocking on the window. They saw Tatsuki and Orihime outside the windows. They popped the trunk and placed their bags in the trunk. There was quite a bit so some of it had to go into the back of the car.

"Alright time to head back" Drew said as he turned on the radio. "Girls you better hang on because I have a need" Drew said as Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild cranked up (Don't own). "What need" Orihime asked innocently. Drew gained a wild look "A need for speed" (Top gun reference). Tatsuki's eyes widened "No…Don't you DAAARREE" Tatsuki screamed as Drew hit the gas screeching down the road. Ichigo and Orihime were laughing and Tatsuki was scared out of her mind as the immortal lyrics belted down the road "BORRRN TO BE WIIIILLLLDDD"

At the garage

They pulled into the garage and they all piled out of the car. Tatsuki climbed out and kissed the ground. "Ground I could kiss you. What the heck is wrong with you Drew" Tatsuki yelled out. "Don't know have been trying to figure it out for years. Get used to it" Tatsuki groaned. Orihime giggled "Tatsuki I thought you liked going fast" Tatsuki dropped her head. "Ok guys we can stop picking on the tough tomboy who can't handle speed" Ichigo teased and caused Tatsuki to chase him laughing all the way. Orihime was torn between helping her friend or Kurosaki-kun, but was taken out her hands when he tripped and with a yelp found herself underneath him. The two furiously blushed at their predicament and they turned as red as their hair when Drew made a comment.

"Ichigo you can flirt with Orihime later we need to move their stuff" Drew said with a smile. Tatsuki was also smiling at the two knowing they made a cute couple but felt a little sad. Why she didn't know.

So after getting off the ground the two blushing red heads were escorted to Isshin's office (There is a plane for transporting cars and is the command center. The other is like a barracks or sleeping quarters.)

"My son you have returned" Isshin said blasting through the door and kicking Ichigo. Ichigo caught the leg and proceeded to start fighting again. "Sigh…I think this is going to become a regular occurrence. Yo, boss man we have a somewhat serious discussion to do" Andrew called out "Oh right the girls rooms" Isshin said turning his back for second only for Ichigo to punch him in the face. "Very good son…I have no more to teach you" Isshin groaned and then quickly recovered. "So we need to discuss sleeping arraignments right?" At the boy's nod he continued "Well while my delinquent son and his country-raised friend were escorting you ladies for your stuff we have set up a room for you to share follow me." Andrew and Ichigo grabbed the bags and trudged behind their new traveling companions.

Isshin led the group to the sleeping area. "For the most part we have our own rooms however we only had one room available hope you don't mind bunking up" "No me and Tatsuki shared a room since we were kids" Orihime said as Tatsuki nodded "We had a lot of fun and everything" Isshin gained a perverted smile only for Drew to kick him between the legs and threw him down the hall. "I hate perverts. It is a man's duty to protect women not hurt them" Drew said.

Another door opened and out popped a sixteen year old girl with brown eyes and hair and had that childish innocence to her. "Tou-san are you and Oni-chan fighting again" "Hey Yuzu he started it and besides it wasn't me this time" "Andrew what did you do that" "How the heck did you that was me" Andrew said in mock surprise "Because you would do something like that. He was doing something pervy again wasn't he" "Yuzu you wound me but yes he was" at this another girl popped out. Compared to Yuzu she couldn't be more different. She had black hair and had a stern look. If Yuzu was a girly girl this one was a tomboy. "Would you keep it down I'm on the phone" "Oi Karin stop talking to that white-haired guy from Kuchiki" Ichigo said. At that Karin blushed. "Shut up" it was at this Yuzu and Karin noticed the new girls. "Oh hello there I am sorry we didn't notice you. I'm Yuzu this is my twin sister Karin we are Ichigo's sisters" Yuzu said with a bow. "What are you doing here" Karin asked. "Well we are reporters and we are going to be traveling with you guys." Karin nodded and went back into the room. Isshin recovered enough to come back to the group. "Alright now that my manhood is reattached let's go to your room ladies." They walked down the hall "So your sisters help out with the team" Orihime asked. "Yeah Yuzu cooks and is one of our spotters for us. Karin is one of our tire changers." Ichigo explained to the questioning looks of the girls. They finally reached the room. "Here we go girls you will find that you are next to my son and Andrew who have separate rooms. Oh and there is only one shower on here so you have to share Take care you guys" Isshin said and left to the annoyance of Ichigo. "Damn that Dad of mine" Ichigo sighed "Come on let's get you settled in" Ichigo said opening the door.

The room was a greyish color with a window to the outside. There were two full size beds, writing desks, a closet and medium sized drawers. After a half hour everything was unpacked and Orihime and Tatsuki were relaxing. The two boys had gone back to their rooms "What a day huh Tatsuki" Orihime said happily. "Yeah although those guys can be jerk" Tatsuki said. "Aw…they just like having fun. That Andrew seems like a very nice guy" "You may be right but what about Ichigo?" Orihime blushed and laughed sheepishly "He has that scary look on his face but he doesn't seem like a bad person. Tatsuki smiled "So you didn't mind him falling for you earlier?" "Mou…Tatsuki-chan is so mean" Orihime said embarrassed. Tatsuki laughed and Orihime tossed one of her pillows hitting her. A brief pillow fight ensued only to stop when Andrew knocked on the door. "Hey you two dinner's almost ready." The girls recomposed themselves and left the room.

Andrew escorted the two to the dining area of the transport plane. It was a large kitchen area with three tables. They already filled with food mostly Italian as Yuzu wanted to welcome the newcomers right. They were properly introduced and Tatsuki had her camera out to video tape the camaraderie. They eventually sat down next to three people. The first was Keigo Asano a loudmouth self-proclaimed playboy with brown hair. He immediately started hit on Orihime and Tatsuki drilled him down the hall. The rest of the hall looked like it was nothing and went back to eating. The second man apologized for Keigo and identified himself as Mizurio Kojima. He said he was one of two tire changers on Ichigo's car (Two tire changers change two tires front and back. Karin is the other on Ichigo's team) Keigo was one of the tire changers on Andrew's team. He was moved to Andrew and Chad's when Jushiro left. Keigo was on Ichigo's team but Karin bumped when she could change tires faster. Keigo was one of faster ones in the garage in his opinion and wants to prove it. The last one introduced was Shinji Hirako. He did the fuel for Ichigo (Will explain at the bottom) and he also operated the air jack which goes into the back of the car. He creped Orihime out and was about to hit on her when Drew stopped them and told him to move.

"Sorry girls should have explained the people in this garage. Shinji here was a part of Vizard Inc. He and several of his crew were going to be promoted the year Souske Limited was promoted. But they were "caught" with evidence of sabotaging other teams and were disbanded. Most of the garage thinks Souske Limited was behind it and caught Kisuke and Yoruichi and another man named Tessai in the mess but had no evidence to support them so they had to disband. They were down on their luck but Isshin offered them a chance to work for them. Shinji, the grey haired man there Kensei Murguruma" Drew pointed towards a stern grey haired man eating with a green-haired woman in a jumpsuit "that girl in the sailor fuku Lisa Yadomaru and the big guy Hachigan Ushoda" Drew pointed to the girl reading a magazine and a large man with a mustache fiddling with a mechanical device "are the jack and fuel guys for Ichigo, myself, Uryu and Chad in that order.

You have met one of my tire changers and both of Ichigo's tire changers. The blonde short-haired girl beating Shinji" the girls turned to see a short blonde haired girl in a red jacket beating up Shinji to the group's amusement "She is the other changer on my car Hiyori Sarugaki. That green haired girl with Kensei is Mashiro Kuno who changes the tires on Chad's team with Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi we call him Rose" Andrew pointed to a blonde-haired man playing a violin. "The last one of those is Love Aikawa he changes the tires on Uryuu's team along with Ururu Tsumugiya over there" pointing to a petit young girl with the Kurosaki twins. "Don't let her appearance fool ya when they practice she blazes through the tires like they weren't there.

(For appearances use post-time skip especially for Ururu)

Tatsuki having her camera video-taped this as Isshin tapped his glass. "Alright listen up." The group turned towards Isshin at the head table which Tatsuki and Orihime had been sitting at.

"Tomorrow is the first qualifying session of the season. That means it's our first chance to impress. Crews I want those cars adjusted just right. Ichigo, Andrew, Chad, Uryuu do your best out there it's not how you start but where you finish" Isshin said and the said drivers nodded. "I would like to propose a toast. To Kurosaki-Ishida future winners and future champions" "KEMPAI" every cheered and clanked their glasses. Tatsuki and Orihime spent the rest of the time interviewing the members and enjoying themselves.

Next day 

The next day the crew was now all serious. Qualifying was about to begin and the drivers had chosen which group to go out in. Considering the size of the field they needed to split up qualifying into six different sessions. They were ten minutes long from the moment the first driver in the group crossed the line. When the time ran out they would be on their last lap. Fastest time counted and it was ranked in order of time. Tatsuki and Orihime had their cameras out and ready to watch the qualifying. For safety purposes Tatsuki and Orihime had to put on Fire suits which led to an awkward moment before they got on the track.

Flashback

"Mou…Tatsuki I think this suit is a little small" Orihime moaned as she tried to adjust her suit. It was a thick white suit with black likes on her shoulders and had Kurosaki-Ishida's sponsors. It was designed to protect the body from a fire a serious problem in the pits. Unfortunately for the ample-chested reporter it also showed a bit of her chest and was tight against her body. "I will try to see if we can get a bigger one. You know you are lucky that I am not one of those girls that are envious of other girl's chest, otherwise I would be jealous of the stares you are going to get" Tatsuki said in a similar suit. Before Orihime could respond there was a knock on the door. "You girls ready yet?" Andrew's voice called from behind the door. The girls opened the door and Andrew and Ichigo were on the other side. Ichigo took one look at Orihime with her innocent expression and blushed bright red. A camera flash broke their gaze and Ichigo scowled at the photographer. Andrew was smiling "And this goes into the personal collection right Tatsuki?" Tatsuki laughed and ran as Ichigo chased after her leaving a blustering Orihime behind. "You alright Hime?" Andrew asked. She nodded "just checking come on" Orihime followed right behind.

End Flashback

Now on pit road Orihime had been getting stares. But Chad Uryu and Andrew drove them off with a glare which she as eternally grateful. The four drivers had chosen which group they would go out at. Uryu would go first in group two; Andrew would go in group three Chad in group five and Ichigo in group six. Group one had finished with Shawn Newman from Stewart-Haas showing his Grandpa's qualifying prowess, impressed with a 1:24.45 beating out Rebecca Kirkland from Audi, Renji Abarai from Kuchiki, Felipe Massa III from Ferrari Dale Earnhardt IV from Hendrick and Alexandra Edwards from Rousch in that order. Uryuu was going out with Ikkaku Mandarame from Kuchiki, Tier Harribel from Souske Limited, Allen Regan from Rousch, Francesca Alonso from Ferrari, and Jason Vettal from Red Bull.

"Good luck Uryu" Orihime said. Uryuu nodded and fired up the engines waiting for the signal to start. A short time later they were on the track on their warm-up lap. Orihime and Tatsuki were observing from the garage.

"Well hello there pretty thing" The group turned to see a blue-haired man with blue eyes and a cocky smirk. The leer was towards Orihime who shrank behind Tatsuki. "What do you want you creep?" Tatsuki yelled. "Oh this is the reaction I get for trying to be friendly. Let me start again. I am Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." The now named Grimmjow grinned which seemed to unnerve the girls even more. "I couldn't help notice your friend here. That outfit is pretty flattering rawr." "Leave Orihime alone you bastard." "Oh, a pretty name for a pretty girl, I like that so why don't you go on a date with me." "I appreciate the offer…but I would like to decline so please take Tatsuki's word and leave me alone please" Orihime said. "Grr…what you think you are too good for me I bet you are hussy" Grimmjow growled and raised his hand only to be caught by another hand. "I don't know what the rules are in Spain but in America when a girl says no she means no do not call her those degrading names again" A southern accent spoke out. The girls breathed a sigh of relief at Drew's appearance. "So what rookie I get what I want and I want this little bird here" "Grimmjow my patience is already bad enough and my session is in three minutes. So back off or else." "Or else what" "Or you are going to deal with all of us." Another voice called out which turned out to be Ichigo and Chad walking up. "So what I can take you guys on" Grimmjow taunted.

"What is going on here" A third voice called which turned out to be an official. "Nothing sir Grimmjow was about to leave" "It better be nothing. Mr. Michaels you are supposed to be on track soon. Kurosaki take your team and go to your garage." The official said. The group nodded and went their separate ways. "That was Grimmjow. He is a notorious playboy. Please Orihime avoid him and anyone from Team Souske ok" Andrew said. Orihime nodded. "Alright then time for qualifying Ichigo can look after you. Time to ride" Andrew said as he picked up his helmet. Ichigo and the girls sat in the garage to watch the run on T.V

With Andrew

Andrew was getting ready to go. He would go out behind Jessica Rosburg from Ferrari and ahead Serenity from Hendrick, Bjorn Kristensen from Audi, Archie from Stewart-Haas and Ulquiorra Cifer from Souske. Uryu had qualified decently in 5th with a 1:25.20. He did ok on track but he got loose a few times trying to make up time. Still he didn't wreck like Ikkaku who went too fast into turn six and wrecked forcing a temporary stop to qualifying. Ikkaku would be forced to start from the rear. The other four did an ok job but were nowhere near the top

Andrew saw the signal to start up the engines. "Alright girl let's do this" flipping the ignition and the mighty engine came to life. Jessica rolled off and Andrew followed a few seconds later. _"Alright it's your first qualifying session how are you feeling_" Kisuke's voice came over the radio. "Is nervous an ok reaction because I feel a little bit nervous right now" Kisuke laughed "_It's fine you got the car and he skill now let's show the world what you can do"_ Andrew smiled as he came out of turn 7 "I am in your capable hands let me know when to start" "_Will do the green flag will wave when Jessica gets to the line. Ten minutes best time remember that. When the time runs out that's your last lap. Karin and Isshin will be timing through the two sections_" "Got it" as he came out of the last turn and saw the green flag. "_That's your cue go get them"_ Andrew put it into gear and headed into turn one. He came out of turn one and into turn two still right on Jessica's tail. She got loose in turn three and Andrew took advantage into the first set of esses. Andrew passed through section one on the stretch"_28.45 two tenths off" _Karin came over the radio. Andrew heard that but almost missed the breaking zone for six and losing a lot of time. "Damn it" Andrew cursed as he looped on to the next stretch "_Calm down its only one lap_." Kisuke said as Andrew passed through the second timing zone passed turn 10 "_48.22 you lost four tenths" _Andrew growled as he passed through the slow section of the course and onto the front stretch and hit the finish line. "_1:25.12 seven tenths off calm down Andrew" _Kisuke said. Andrew breathed and went into the first turn almost losing control.

After seven minute he entered his last lap. _"Alright this your last lap you are currently 5th out of eighteen drivers. Let's make it count." _"10-4 Kisuke" Andrew said as he entered turn one. He went through the turns hitting each mark. "_Section one 28.35 one tenth off best time through the section"_ Karin called out. Andrew's confidence grew as he reached the turn that had been given people trouble. He hit the mark and rolled through turn. He entered the stretch on a tear and entered the 9-10 chicane. Passing through turn 11 he passed the second time stop "_47.95 two tenths ahead keep it up. _Drew blazed through 12 and entered the slow-down area '_Come on hit the marks' _Drew said as cut through the turn and saw the checkered flag indicating he was done. He crossed the line and let a big whoop "_Great job want to hear the time" _"Yes please. "_1:24.22" "_Alright!" Drew said beating on the steering wheel as he slowed down. He entered the pits and exited his car. He looked up at the scoring tower. A big 91 was on top ahead of the 39 and the 24. He looked down and saw the other times. Jessica's 12 was 8th, Ulquiorra's 04 was 5th, Bjorn was 11th, Serenity was 2nd and Archie was 7th. "Wow that was cool" He saw Ichigo and smirked "Beat that buddy" Andrew said with a grin giving Ichigo a high-five. "You are on." Ichigo smiled "Excuse me" the boys turned to see Serenity walking over to them. She had a grin and the outfit she had on did pretty well with her figure. "That was an impressive run Mr. Michaels" Drew grew flustered and rubbed his head nervously. "It was nothing Ms. Gordon to be honest I thought a couple of those turns would beat me" Andrew said. "Regardless you interest me, not a lot of people can do that. I look forward to racing you this season. Au revoir gentleman" Serenity said as she walked away. Ichigo chuckled "Looks like someone has a crush" "Shut up" Andrew bristled. "Excuse me" they turned to see a couple of reporters. Unlike Orihime and Tatsuki these were affiliated with one of the big networks that broadcast the Grand Prix. This particular one was the American Fox Racing Network. (Don't own Fox) "Mr. Michaels, Jermaine Ferguson Fox Racing Network may we get a few words for the boys back home." "Uh…sure Ichigo tell me how Chad did this may a little bit." "Excuse me can we film this. We work with National Geographic we are doing a series with this team and this would be a good segment" Orihime asked. "Oh sure just make sure to give proper credit (Like all good authors and reporters should.)

Jermaine was led back to their garage. "Alright when we start I want you to act natural answer as best you can" "Is it ok to be nervous right now" "Don't worry you only have 100 million people watching." "Not helping Mr. Ferguson" Drew grumbled. Jermaine got the signal to start. "Alright in 5...4…3…2...1" the cameraman says and points to Jermaine "Thanks Ian I am here with the current pole sitter Andrew Michaels. Now Andrew you were three tenths off the pole on your first ever run tell me how you manage to get that last lap. "Well first off I want to say hi to my family back home. Hey Dad Hey mom miss you a lot" to the delight of Jermaine and the girls watching the interview "Second well I am surprised I turned out that lap. Almost blowing it in turn six on the first lap missing that brake zone I thought I remembered that. But Kisuke calmed me down even after messing up again on the subsequent laps. The final lap I had I don't how I did it but I beat out the Champ so that is the highlight of my week so far hahaha." "Speaking of the champ she walked up to you how did you feel about that" "Well I would like to say she is prettier in person hahaha" He laughed so did the reporter even the girls giggled. "But in all serious she said she is interested in my racing. Impressing her on the first run that is an achievement" "So you think you can hold onto the pole" "I think I can but there are two drivers still left that I think can beat my time. My teammate Ichigo and probably Grimmjow they will be going in the sixth and fifth session. Maybe Mcnish who is in the last session which is coming up." Drew pointed at the TV behind them as the session ended with Soi Fung being the fastest who wound up 6th after her run knocking Uryuu down to 9th. Hamilton from Red Bull was 13th at the moment, George Schumacher from Ferrari was 14th, Allen Regan from Rousch spun out and wound up 20th Gin Ichimaru from Souske was 15th and Michael Busch from Stewart-Hass was 17th and he could hear his shouts from the lane. Chad was due out next with Kira from Kuchiki Maria from Ferrari Grimmjow from Souske Raoul from Red Bull Marcus from Stewart-Hass and Robert from Hendrick. Meaning Mcnish from Audi, Maria Robertson from Ferrari, Ralph Dillon from Hendrick, Patricia Stenhouse and Michael Kennseth from Rousch would go out with Ichigo. "So you think you can start on the front row" "Absolutely but I would settle with a top five start I think I have a good car. I feel like I can win" "Thanks and good luck" "Thank you" "And cut. Nice job." Tatsuki said. "Are you sure that was your first interview you handled it well" Jermaine said. "I've had practice as a lector and speech classes kind of inherited as well dad talks for a living. First time in front of a crowd like this though." At this everyone chuckled "Alright then good luck I have to interview others." Jermaine said and left. "What's the order now" he asked turning around. He saw the following as the fifth session wound down (Rows will be three wide the spots will be inside middle and outside respectively. Do the math from there)

Andrew Michaels

Serenity Gordon

Shawn Newman

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Rebecca Kirkland

Ulquiorra Cifer

Soi Fong

Chad Yasotora

Dale Earnhardt IV

Renji Abarai

Flippe Massa III

Uryuu Ishida

Francesca Alonso

Brian Mcnish

Tier Harribel

Robert Johnson

Jessica Rosburg

Alexandra Edwards

Jason Webber

George Schumacher

Michael Kennseth

Marcus Andretti

Bjorn Kristensen

Gin Ichimaru

Kira Izuru

Michael Busch

Raoul Garcia

Allen Regan

Ikkaku Mandarame (DQ)

"Wow I am surprised my time has stayed up there." "Don't get cocky you might be knocked off of the pole" Tatsuki smirked. "We will see based on the times I don't think I am going to fall further than 5th." Andrew said as he watched the final session on the monitor.

In the pits

Ichigo was putting on his helmet. "Ichigo wait" he turned towards his father "Here a good luck charm. It was your mother's" It was a simple charm with trust in your heart written in Kanji and for Ichigo love your mother on the back" Ichigo's eyes hardened and the thought and looked away. "She would be proud of you getting this far. Here let me tape it to the dash." Isshin did so quickly. He closed up the net and gave him a thumbs up. The official gave the signal to start his engine. He was behind Patricia and Maria as they pulled off pit road to begin their warm-up laps. "_Ichigo remember the rules 10 minutes fastest time counts. Don't wreck the car alright" "_Tch… come on dad give me a break" Ichigo said as rounded turn six. "_Ichigo just do your best" _Ichigo said nothing as the green flag waved to begin the session. Ichigo got into gear faster and almost ran into Maria who got incredibly loose and almost spun out allowing Ichigo to pass her in Turn three and headed towards turn four and five. He passed the first time stamp "_28.46, one tenth off nii-san" _Ichigo entered the turn a little too hard and lost some time. He tried to make up some time but ran into Patricia who wheel hopped on the chicane and cost him some time to avoid it. At the second time stamp he ran 48.57 which was completely off of Drew's pace. He entered the slow section still trying to get around Patricia and succeeded coming out of Turn 14 onto the front stretch but was a full second behind Drew's time. Ichigo kept calm and now with clear track he picked up the pace. "_28.20 one tenth ahead keep it up" _Ichigo now with full confidence hit each mark successfully as he entered the second section. "_47.09 you are on pace for the pole son" _rounding the last turns Ichigo hit the gas and crossed the line. "_Ichigo that was great 1:23.84 that is one tenth off the track record great job son bring it in" _Ichigo smiled and slowed down slightly so not to ruin the care. He came around to the pits and parked the car and hopped out. "You knucklehead you beat my time. But you showed that we came to play great job Ichigo" Andrew said. As the session ended officials and sponsors came over to congratulate the top 3 which were Ichigo who won the pole Andrew who got 2nd and Serenity who got 3rd the final line-up was like this

Ichigo Kurosaki

Andrew Michaels

Serenity Gordon

Shawn Newman

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Rebecca Kirkland

Ulquiorra Cifer

Soi Fong

Archie Stewart

Chad Yasotora

Dale Earnhardt IV

Renji Abarai

Flippe Massa III

Michael Kennseth

Uryuu Ishida

Francesca Alonso

Maria Robertson

Brian Mcnish

Tier Harribel

Patricia Stenhouse

Robert Johnson

Jessica Rosburg

Alexandra Edwards

Jason Webber

George Schumacher

Ralph Dillon

Michael Kennseth

Marcus Andretti

Bjorn Kristensen

Gin Ichimaru

Ralph Dillon

Kira Izuru

Michael Busch

Raoul Garcia

Allen Regan

Ikkaku Mandarame (DQ)

Reporters were descending on the two rookies who tried to answer as best they could. Isshin stood off to the side watching his son and his friend talk about their run. '_They did good in qualifying' _Isshin turned serious '_But they need to prove it in the actual race. The season has only just begun_

**End of Chapter**

**UO: Man that was a pain to write. So here is the lowdown on the points and the pits.**

**Pits: Six men over the wall. Fuel man raises the jack which goes in the back of the car. Two tire changers change one big nut on each tire and replaces the tires. They do it on each side. One man signals the driver with a sign and the last one makes adjustments. Average stop 7 seconds**

**Points: Descending points based on position. 36 for a win and 1 for last place finish. One point for a lap led three for most laps led. Team points are the combined points of the four drivers on the team**

**Terms: Grand Prix: Meaning Grand Prize in French it is currently the world's most popular and oldest form of racing dating back to the 1900's **

**Melbourne circuit: A long time track on the f1 circuit. In real life the Albert Park circuit is a street course much thinner than the one in this fic. This is where the Australian Grand Prix opens the F1 season.**

**Also I have decided to make it 25 rounds and only visit each track once. There will be some old tracks i.e tracks that haven't been used in real life for a while.**

**Preview: Race Day is finally here and Ichigo and Andrew lead the field to the green but can they overcome pit troubles and the weather? Find out on Bleach Grand Prix**

**Next time: Waving the green flag down under**

**Can someone give me an opening song for this fic that fits I got for the ending but I needs some help with the beginning**

**Anyway review constructively**

**OSPREY….SWOOOSH**


	3. Green Flag down under

**OSPREY…SWOOSH**

**UO: Alright Race day people actor check.**

**Ichigo: Ready to win**

**Andrew: Time to race**

**Uryuu: Me and Chad are ready**

**Tatsuki: I'm here. Wait where is Orihime?**

**UO: WHAT YOU MEAN YOU DIDN"T RIDE TOGETHER (Phone rings) Hello…Orihime where are you…WHAT…What do you mean you got lost on the way to the studio…Ok where are you. Uh huh (Raises eyebrow and walks to the door) Uh huh Uh huh (opens door)**

**Hime: see a big picture of the U.S I see you I see Tatsuki oh hi boss.**

**UO: Orihime where were you. **

**Orihime: Well I was on my way but the little green men accidentally sent me to another studio, Spartan719 Studios and then Kage Bijuu productions. Mou…I'm sorry. (Puppy dog eyes)**

**UO: Orihime (Sigh) your innocence makes it hard to stay mad. Go get ready. **

**Orihime Yay! (Runs off)**

**Ichigo: She is too innocent for her own good**

**UO: I know someone do the disclaimer**

**Tatsuki: UnitedOsprey1991 is not Tite Kubo therefore Bleach isn't his. Orihime would be paired up with Ichigo otherwise. Also all the tracks are owned by their respective owners and all the OCS are his unless proven otherwise. The teams aren't his either**

**UO: Not going to go after him in Canon?**

**Tatsuki: Nope **

**UO: Alright On with the show then. Oh and the two authors I mentioned I help with their stories go check them out.**

Normal: Dialogue

_"Italics and quotations": Radio and track announcer_

'_Italics and apostrophe': Thoughts_

**Bold: Yelling**

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_**

Name followed by colon: TV announcer in Race

Underline: Locations and time difference

Chapter 2: Green Flag Down Under.

Two Days later

The sun was just rising over the track. Some clouds were seen but they would burn off before the race. Despite it being 8:00 in the morning there were already tailgaters in the parking lots and trailers in the RV lot for the 1:00 race.

In the sleeping quarters the four drivers were sleeping soundly. They would hopefully wake up in an hour and get ready for the drivers meeting which was scheduled for two hours before the race. Unfortunately for the drivers they were in for a rude awakening.

Ichigo was on his bed with an arm behind his head snoozing and have good dreams. Just then his door opened and Isshin came in leaping at his son.

"GOOOOOODDDDD MOOOORRRNNNIIINGGGG IIIICCCCHHHIGGGGO" Isshin yelled out aiming a drop kick at his son. This lead to a scuffle which woke the surrounding rooms up.

"Oni-chan, Tou-san are you fighting again" Yuzu yelled as she and her sister walked out in their pajamas. Orihime and Tatsuki looked out of their room to see the commotion. Tatsuki sweatdropped while Orihime giggled. The giggling caught Ichigo's ears and distracted him which gave Isshin the opportunity to take him down only for Ichigo to throw a punch and sent him into the wall.

"Good…work…son" Isshin said as he fell down to the ground. Andrew's door opened revealing a disheveled Andrew. One look at Isshin told the story. "Isshin, Ichigo what the heck it is too early for this" Andrew grumbled angrily while rubbing his head. "Don't blame me blame my idiotic father" Ichigo yelled. "But son how are you going to wake up and race if you are sleeping the day away." Isshin said suddenly recovered and scared Ichigo. "I had my alarm set to 9:00 Am Australia time and I would have gotten ready to go to the driver's meeting no problem." Ichigo said as they proceeded to fight again. Yuzu and Karin sighed and went back to get dressed so they could start breakfast. "Karin are they always like this in the morning" Andrew asked. "Don't get me started Andrew. Breakfast is in a half hour." Karin said as they walked away now fully dressed.

A half hour later the entire crew was chowing down on cereal fruits and juice as they were getting excited for the race. Orihime and Tatsuki were filming "Can I have your attention please" Isshin said tapping his glass. With the team's attention he spoke. "Today is the first race of the season. We may be rookies but I don't think we are. This is the first step towards proving we belong with the big boys. Who are we?" Isshin yelled

"KUROSAKI-ISHIDA"the entire crew cheered. "Alright Four hours to race time. Shower and gear up. Drivershave priority they need to get to the driver's meeting."

They all nodded their acknowledgment and started cleaning up. The aforementioned driver went to the showers in their quarters. Tatsuki and Orihime waited outside their rooms so they could get their thoughts on today.

Ichigo was the first one out of the communal shower. He put on his towel and walked towards his room. He got a squeak as at the time Orihime was walking by the door and inadvertently saw him shirtless. In Orihime's mind the muscles she saw were not too big but looked like he worked out. She fainted with a big blush to the shock of both Tatsuki and Ichigo and forcing the former to catch her. Tatsuki tried to wake her up but Orihime was out cold. "Hime…Hime!" Tatsuki yelled out. "Ichigo why did you do that. Walking all bare-chested there are women here now" Tatsuki said red in the face. Whether it be from anger or embarrassment he didn't know. Andrew walked out next but this time in a robe. "What happened" he asked seeing Orihime on the ground. "Did she faint from Ichigo hitting on her" Andrew said smirking at their faces. "This guy here" Tatsuki pointed to Ichigo "Decided to come out in just a towel and Orihime fainted because of it." Andrew sighed "Ichigo got to your room and suit up. Girls next time knock before coming in here alright?" The two nodded with Ichigo going to his room and Tatsuki dragging Orihime to her room.

Drew sighed and walked to his room. He entered and locked the door. Walking over to his music player he scrolled through his songs. Picking one he hit play and proceeded to get ready opening up his closet.

Begin Montague (Play U2: I still haven't found What I'm Looking For. I don't own it)

Drew pulled off his robe and started getting into his suit. The fire suit went on first as protection was necessary while also switching his glasses so they could fit in his helmet.

In Ichigo's room, the red head had his suit on and was zipping up his outer suit. Looking in the mirror he smiled at his look and proceeded to start putting on his boots.

Uryuu was already dressed in his suit and was now tying up his boots. The Ishida driver was calm and collected as soft music played in the back ground. He put on his gloves as well looking stern as he did so.

In Sado's room, he was praying at his bedside already suited up. His cross in his hand he prayed for the season and to his grandfather who died four years ago. Standing up he grabbed his helmet and walked out.

In the car plane, the crew began unloading the cars. One car which appeared to be Ichigo's was being brought to the elevator and brought down. Another car which was Drew's was being rolled onto the grid in the middle of the track. The equipment tires and fuel and water buckets were being moved to the respective pit boxes. Ichigo and Drew being the first two on the grid were towards the exit of the lane while Chad and Uryuu were near the middle.

In the stands and fan area, people were already lining up to enter the track with tickets in hand. Most of them were wearing the shirts of their favorite drivers. Other fans were buying souvenirs. All in all despite the heat the fans were excited and it looked like another sell out for the Grand Prix.

(Lower the volume of the song until I say so)

In the broadcast center above the track are multiple camera crews were setting up their gear. An antenna was stationed on top of the press box. Multitudes of countries were represented from France to China to Germany to Egypt. The biggest camera crews belonged to three networks; The American Fox Racing Network, The British Sky RPM TV, and Japan's Nippon Racing Channel (Don't own any of the main networks. As far as I know I made up the channels if I didn't I don't own it). The broadcasters were preparing what they were going to say on air. Among the faces in the broadcasters was a new face. This middle-aged man had naturally white hair and despite his age he had cheerful disposition. This was Jushiro Ukitake, who retired from Kurosaki-Ishida following their promotion the previous season when his health go worse. He was quickly hired on as a color commentator for Japan's racing network.

"You nervous Jushiro" the white-haired man looked over to see a man in his thirties in a khaki business suit. He had brown hair that curled up into what looked like fox ears. This was Sajin Kommamura a long time broadcaster for the network. "This will be the first season in a long time I won't be behind the wheel. I think I can manage." Jushiro said with a smile as they started preparations for their broadcast.

In the Fox center, a grey haired man in a white suit was attaching a microphone to his jacket. "Ready Dale" said a brown-haired man in blue suit. The now named Nate Jarrett descendent from Dale Jarrett and now color commentator for Fox turned to see his partner Jeremy Buck part of the legendary Buck family of broadcasters. He inherited the voice styling of his grandfather Joe Buck (I own nothing). "Always Jeremy." He said as the broadcast was about to get underway.

In a large trailer near the garage the drivers were gathered for a driver's meeting. Everyone was there for you were late or missed it you would forfeit their position. The director was an elderly gentleman that had a balding head and a white beard. Despite his age he had an aura of an experienced driver. This was Genryusai Yammamato a three time driver's champion from the early days of the Grand Prix. Now he was the director of the World Grand Prix and had a no nonsense attitude about discipline. (Stop the music here)

"And further more we will be cracking down on illegal modifications of the cars. We are aware some of the stuff you might have gotten away with in the past but this ends now" Yammamato said glaring at the driver but his gaze appeared to be more on a brown haired gentleman with a cocky smile like he planned everything. This was Souske Aizen head of Souske Limited. Most thought he was nobody with four inexperienced drivers when he broke on to the scene on the heels of the Vizard scandal. Now he has three two championships and if wasn't for Serenity and Hendrick he would be the current champion owner. Next to him was a fox-faced silver-haired man and a black man with purple dreadlocks. This was Gin Ichimaru the driver of the 009 and Tousen Kaname the crew chief of the 009. They had defected from Kuchiki when their contract ran out and now their entire team was part of a proven winning team.

"Am I understood ladies and gentleman" Yammamato. The whole group nodded. Yammamato banged his walking stick. "Good now hen we are two hours away from the season please prepare yourselves. Dismissed." With that the groups broke up to go get ready for the race. The Kurosaki drivers along with their camera crew walked towards their pits as a group. Looking around they saw several popular drivers signing autographs. They saw Serenity and Tia signing autographs from their fan boys and their admiring girls. They also saw several of the other drivers who were signing autographs. Ichigo sighed. "It's a cruel irony we want fans but when we get them they could overwhelm us" Ichigo pondered as they walked towards their cars. "We are only rookies Ichigo most of our races were either not televised in this country or they might not know about us. They will come we just need to prove it." "It is better to not rush into fame cousin. It might change who we are" Uryuu said sagely. "That was deep Ishida-san" Orihime said causing Tatsuki to roll her eyes. "Oh who asked you Uryuu" Ichigo as they started trading barbs. Andrew tuned them out as he looked to the sky seeing some clouds. He narrowed his eyes at the shape of them. "You sense it too don't you Chad" the giant man was next to him and looked up at the clouds as well. "Yes it looks like it might rain later" Chad answered back. "What do you mean it's going to rain the weather report said it wasn't. Plus this is Australia in February when do you expect it to rain?" Tatsuki said. "You need to rely on things other than technology. As for how we know, my family is only a couple of generations removed from farming. I think three or four generations back. Some of the stuff was taught to me and other stuff I looked up. See those clouds" Drew pointed at the clouds which were puffy and scattered about. "Those are Altocumulus clouds. This humidity in the morning will lead to some rain later (True fact)

"So what are you going to do?" Orihime asking with her recorder nearby. She had heard the first part of the conversation and pulled it out. "Well for starters I am going to ask Isshin if he packed Rain tires. Second we are going to have to adjust our strategy if my fears are confirmed." Andrew said as the two arguing duo heard the last part of the conversation. They separated with Ichigo and Andrew went to Ichigo' pit and the other two went to theirs. Tatsuki and Orihime followed Ichigo towards his pit with a camera on him. They noticed there was another camera crew and it was from Nippon TV. A blonde woman wearing a collared shirt and skirt along with an elder gentleman with hair that stuck up in three places and was holding a lot of camera equipment

"Oh, Kurosaki-san. A pleasure to meet you I am Kiyone Kotestu and this is Sentaro we help cover the pits for Nippon-TV. We want to interview for the pre-show which should be starting soon. "Oh…uh sure." Ichigo said a little surprised. "Great we get the word will interview you" Kiyone said as they walked over to the garage. "So tell us a little bit about yourself" Kiyone asked as they started talking about Ichigo's story causing a little jealousy in Tatsuki and concern in Orihime. "Don't let her get to you girls" Andrew said walking up to them. "She's just interviewing Ichigo. I think she has a thing for her cameraman" reassuring Orihime and Tatsuki albeit reluctantly in the latter's case. "Oh Mr. Michaels a word" Andrew turned to see the fox camera crew. "Excuse me ladies. After this interview is introductions so see you after the race." Andrew said walking away leaving the girls to talk.

One Hour to engines start,

(Play Fox NFL music. For those that don't know look it up)

"Hello and welcome to the pre-show of the 50th edition of the world grand prix (I will not try to butcher any language so just assume they say stuff similar to what is being said in English) Kommamura said. He was stern but friendly as he began reading off the prompter. "With retired champion Jushiro Ukitake here I am Kommamura Sajin for the Nippon Racing Channel. As previously stated this is the 50th anniversary of the Grand Prix which was started by the various executives of the major world racing circuits. Today it is broadcast in over two hundred countries and five hundred million people. This event draws viewer numbers on par with Soccer's World Cup and the Olympics."

"That is right Kommamura. Now an event like this should have some fireworks. And there already were…cough…excuse me." Replays of qualifying began playing "On Friday in qualifying we thought that Ryan Newman or one of the veterans would grab the pole. But Andrew surprised us with a 1:24.2. We thought that was going to be tough to beat. But then in the final segment it was teammate Ichigo Kurosaki that set the time with a 1:23.8. Now we have two rookie drivers on the front row with the defending champion Serenity Gordon. To hear from the pole sitter here is our pit row reporter Kiyone Kotestu.

With Ichigo

and Kiyone

Kiyone: "Thanks Jushiro-sempai. So Ichigo Kurosaki you won the pole on your first attempt at qualifying. What is going through your head as we get ready for driver's introductions?

Ichigo: "What's going through my head is that is all surreal. I mean my teammates are all rookies in this tier we weren't supposed to keep up with them. Now I have a chance to win big in our first race.

K: "So what are your expectations this season" I: "Oh I hope we win this thing. But there are eight other teams and thirty-five other drivers including my teammates. It's going to be competitive this year I have a good feeling about that.

K: "That's good so anyone to shout out to?" I: "Not really most of my family is here. We are big on the family thing at the Enterprises. My dad heads the team and is my crew chief. My Uncle and cousin are one of my teammates I've been friends with Andrew and Sado for years. My sisters work on the crew we are a really tight nit bunch even though we have only been together a couple of months. I think that support will help all of us.

K: "So what about your mother" I" "She is unfortunately not here anymore. Rest in Peace her kind soul I think she will be watching out over me." K: "Sorry for bringing it up" I: "You didn't know" K: "One last question are you ready" I: "As I will ever be" "Alright then good luck back to you Jushiro" "And Cut" Sentaro called out. "Thanks for the interview. That was good" Kiyone said. "You are welcome" Ichigo said as the crew left.

"That was pretty good Ichigo" Andrew said as he walked over from his interview. "I think you got some sympathy on your side" "I'm not looking for sympathy" Ichigo said as he started walking towards the introduction stage. Andrew grabbed his shoulder "I know it's personal but you have a sympathetic ear" Andrew said as they walked silently

Half Hour before engines fire up

"Ladies and Gentleman it is now time to meet your drivers that will race in the 50th WORLD GRAND PRIX" the track announcer to roar of the crowd. "Alright then let us get started" the announcer said as the drivers began coming out. Tatsuki and Orihime were in front of the podium watching with their camera as each of the drivers made their appearance

Behind the stage the drivers were standing waiting to be called up. Some of the drivers were being interviewed by other networks. Ichigo could see Kiyone talking with Maria from Ferrari and Jermaine talking with Robert from Hendrick. Turning around he saw Drew pacing around shaking his hands like a nervous twitch. "Andrew? Andrew? Hey snap out of it" Drew looked up and stopped pacing but his hand was twitching. "What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh just a little nervous and excited I don't have my usual coping stuff right now" Drew replied.

"Coping? What do you mean?"

"Let's say I am not the most…social person and for some reason the environment is making me antsy. Combine those and well" Andrew motion to his hand.

"Anything you take for this" Ichigo asked

"No I took social therapy. I am fine though." Andrew's twitching stopped as. Tier Harribel took to the stage to wolf whistles of the crowd.

"You sure?"

"Oh yeah no worries. Believe it or not racing is part of that therapy. I did well in school, but for therapeutic purposes nothing could compare to being in control of 850 horsepower. Once I was in I was hooked. Now I want to prove that those with my condition can do great things."

"Your condition?" Ichigo asked as a big roar came from the crowd as Brian Mcnish took the stage.

"Like you I have my secrets. Just know we all have our reasons to race." Andrew said as the announcer revealed the next driver.

"Starting 15th in the number 32 for Kurosaki-Ishida Enterprises from Karakura Town, Japan Uryuu "The Sparrow" Ishida." The announcer said causing his teammates to sweatdrop.

"Sparrow really?" Ichigo asked. Andrew shrugged as Uryuu waved to the crowd. A couple of drivers later and a big roar for Dale Earnhardt IV which was more feminine than Tia's because of his fangirls, the announcer moved on.

"Staring 8th in the 66 from Karakura Town, Japan Sado "El Diablo" Yasotora" Sado walked up not saying much and just gave the crowd a thumbs up.

Ichigo and Andrew were waiting on their turn when Serenity walked over to him. "Hello gentleman" she said with a smile. "Oh Serenity, hello" Andrew said with a nervous expression. Ichigo smirked at his expression. "First race you all excited" she asked with the same carefree expression on her face. "I don't know about my stuttering friend here but I am ready for this." "Stuttering? I just happen to be in the presence of a beautiful woman. You would probably do the same thing with Orihime." "Hey leave her out of this" the boys started arguing causing her to giggle. Drew stopped talking and blushed a bit. "And now for the front row." The announcer said. "Good luck boys" Serenity said as she walked up the stands "First starting 3rd in the number 24 car from Vallejo, California, USA she is your defending champion from Hendrick Motorsports, Serenity "The Princess" Gordon" the announcer said as Serenity took the stage to loud cheers of the crowd.

"I think she calmed us down" Andrew said. "You think?" Ichigo asked. "Oh yeah you were just as nervous as me weren't you" Andrew pointed out. "Alright you got me" "Now for your second place starter" "That's me good luck" Andrew said pounding Ichigo's fist. The announcer continued "His wildness got him to the pole only to be knocked off by our pole sitter. From Jacksonville, Florida, the only American representing a Japanese team, racing for Kurosaki-Ishida Enterprises welcome to the Grand Prix Andrew "The Maverick" Michaels." Andrew got up on stage and smile slightly while waving to the crowds with the cameras in the crowd and next to the stage. Walking by he saw several people stick their hands out and he high-fived them as he walked down the ramp towards his car.

Ichigo gulped he was on next. "And now your pole sitter. He came as close as anyone has to breaking a twenty-five year old record. He race for Kurosaki-Ishida Enterprise he is a rookie just like his teammates in the World Grand Prix. From Karakura Town, Japan give it up for Ichigo "The Guardian" Kurosaki." The announcer called out as Ichigo took the stage to some applause. Orihime and Tatsuki were filming and taking pictures of the whole thing so they could edit it later but they were focusing primarily on their team. When Ichigo came out they took their time filming and taking their pictures before they walked with him to his car.

The announcer made one last note "Driver to your cars engines fire in ten minutes." Tatsuki and Orihime were running along pit road to film some of them getting in their cars. They saw Uryuu hop in after switching his glasses out. They saw Chad climbing in through a hatch on top of the car. When they got to the front row Ichigo and Andrew were already in. They walked over to Andrew who was getting help putting the Hans device on and some last minute advice from Kisuke.

Walking over they heard the last snippets of the conversation. "Remember this is the real deal, this is just a car you are responsible for what you do with it. Also watch your temperatures it's very hot. We got the air pump on your helmet and we have water bottles for when you come in" Kisuke said. Andrew nodded and Kisuke stepped back after putting up the driver's net. "Hey Michaels-san we came to wish you good luck" Orihime said. "Yeah good luck knucklehead." Tatsuki said with a small smile. "Thanks girls." Andrew said with a thumb up then place his ear plugs in followed by his helmet.

Walking over to Ichigo's car Isshin was still talking with Ichigo. "Son you know I tend to be a goof but in all seriousness be careful. There might be some rain today so watch your temps and watch your car" "Thanks dad" Ichigo said as he put on his helmet. Isshin put up the net and pulled away as the girls walked over to his car. "Good luck Kurosaki-kun" Orihime said in her bubbly way. "What she said" Tatsuki said giving a thumbs up to him. "Thanks girls" Ichigo said sticking out his hand to shake theirs. Tatsuki grabbed his hand followed by Orihime who blushed at the contact.

"Teams please vacate the track." Orihime and Tatsuki followed Isshin to the garage who proceeded to climb on top of the pit box.

"Ichigo can you hear me" Isshin casket.

_Loud and clear pops" _Isshin nodded. "Girls you might want to put on your ear phones." The girls grabbed their ear phones as the announcer prepared to give the most famous words in motorsports

"Ladies and Gentleman, it is now time to start this season off right. Drivers. START. YOUR. ENGINES.

With a loud roar the crowd cheered as each car fired up. In the race control the officials were monitoring the cars as engine fired up. A grey-haired man was overseeing this. "Saeskbe, all engines are fired up and running" an official told the stern-looking British man. "Good. Send word to the pace car to begin." "Yes sir"

(I will split time between on track dialogue and the two TV Broadcasters during the races plus race control as needed. If its confusing you have to remember most racing broadcasts only see it form the TV booth's perspective. This fic will need to go between the various areas for it to work. Just look at IGPX which is one of my inspirations for this fic.)

In the American booth Nate and Jeremy were commenting on the start-up and read out the starting line-up. "With a loud an enthusiastic cheer and the loud roar of the engines the fiftieth World Grand Prix is under way" Jeremy said. "That is right and boy these drivers look hungry to race" Nate said. "As the drivers pull away let's look at what is going to take to win this race. It is 400 miles on roughly a 4 mile track. It will take a hundred laps to complete the distance with a fuel run of 25-30 laps so look for someone to gamble towards the end. Track temperature is well over 120 degrees Fahrenheit right now with the 80 degree air temperature and the humidity it is sweltering in those cars. There is a good possibility for rain" "Right Nate now let's see if we can talk to one of the drivers as they complete the first of three pace laps." "Let's talk to the Golden Girl Serenity. Serenity this is NJ you read me.

_"Loud & clear" _"You're entering as the champ how do you feel?" "_It feels great but not I have a bull's eye on my back especially with those of Souske." _"You got that right they must have been ticked when you stole that title." _"Hahaha…so true. But they aren't the only ones. The two drivers next to me seem like even harder challenges to me." _"Oh some praise already for the rookies. They must like that. Alright good luck this year talk to you later." _"Thanks NJ" _Nate cut the mic as the racers came along for ace lap two as the lights on the pace (safety) car went off.

With the drivers

Ichigo was breathing trying to calm himself. He saw his mother's pendent and touched it. "Watch over me mom" he said as they went through turn one.

Andrew was cleaning off his tires by weaving back and forth when Kisuke came over the radio. "_Remember the starter's box is the entrance to turn 14. Make sure not to take off before then" _"10-4 Kisuke" Andrew said as the safety car sped up through turn 3. "_Remember drivers the signal is turn 14 do not start before then" _Saeskbe said.

Throughout the grid drivers were concentrating on the start of their season. From Uryuu's and Ulquiorra's stoic look to Tia and Sado's blank looks. Some drivers were still talking with their crew chiefs. As they headed down the stretch towards the 9 10 chicane they had to squeeze through the relatively small turns. Approaching turn twelve the entrance appeared on their right. The safety car pulled off to let the drivers go through the final turns. The crowd was on their feet as they approached the crucial turn. "_Steady…Ichigo steady you start this don't blow it" _Isshin said over the radio. Coming out of Turn 14 he saw the flag stand.

"_Wait…NOW GREEN FLAG" _Isshin called out as the flag man waved the flag. Ichigo got on throttle and went through the gears. Andrew was a little slow on the gear change and dropped behind Ichigo. Serenity however having the inside line was able to get into turn one much better as the rest of the field bunched up behind them. Some of the cars made contact as smoke was thrown up from the brakes. Some of the cars went side wise and at least two cars, Maria and Ralph spun out but they quickly recovered

"And there's already chaos going into the first turn as the 3 and 42 spin out in turn one" Jeremy said from the American booth. Meanwhile in the Japanese booth Kommamura was calling the front of the race. "Serenity takes the lead coming out of turn one with the Hondas following her" Kommamura said as they entered turns two and three.

On the track Serenity was exiting turn 3 with a smirk. "Later boys" she said as she sped towards five into to the slow turn six. She got a little loose and Ichigo tried to sneak through six but slammed the door going out of the turn into the long straight.

"Damn she can be mean on the track" Ichigo said. "_I guess there is a reason why she is a champion. We got a long race_" Andrew said on their team radio (Drivers can talk between their teams). They followed Serenity into the fast chicane. Andrew got loose and almost lost it but quickly got control but lost a little bit of ground. As they entered the last section of the course Ichigo tried to get inside but he hopped the turn and almost collided with Serenity forcing him to check up (slow down) and lose his momentum. "God damn it I can't catch a break.

Kommamura: "As Lap one is completed Serenity has picked up right where she left off in her championship season as she leads lap one. The rookies Kurosaki and Michaels are chasing her down."

Eight laps later, the three were still fighting at the time but now Ulquiorra was sneaking into the mix. Meanwhile back in 19th Uryuu was falling back. His car was pushing through several of the turns, meaning the front of the car wouldn't turn like he wanted. He made his frustrations known over the radio. "Father this car is tight I cannot turn this car." "_Uryuu please tough it out there it might be the fuel. Let it burn off see if that loosens it up. We will try to make adjustments on our first stop." _"At this rate I might not make it." Uryuu said as he plowed through the 9 10 chicane.

A lap later Sado was battling Archie for 7th as they went through the first set of turns. Archie was keeping Chad (I will use both interchangeably you know who he is) from passing him. "No rookie is going to get by me." He saw Grimmjow up ahead as he had stayed in sixth. "Hello kitty. Time to play." As Archie exited the tricky 6 and 7 turns into 8.

Grimmjow was riding along trying to keep up with Shawn but he couldn't gain any more ground. Shawn was a little tight but Grimmjow was that much loose. Collectively they were four seconds behind Ulquiorra who was slowly gaining on Andrew.

"Damn it I can't keep up, this car is too loose for me" "_I though you would like a loose race car"_ said a snide voice. "Oh who asked you Sazeyl?" Grimmjow said as he turned down the front stretch. The pink haired man chuckled "_Would you relax. It is only early in the race" _"Grr…" Grimmjow then looked in the rearview mirror to see Archie coming up behind him. "Che… a new meal" Grimmjow said he sped down towards turn six. Archie had the slightly faster car so he came up to Grimmjow as they entered the turn. Grimmjow broke hard into the turn and his car got slightly loose. Archie tried to turn underneath him but he wheel hopped and made contact with Grimmjow and ended up spinning both of them out. Chad who was slightly behind him checked up as they spun completely around and faced the oncoming traffic.

Jeremy: Two cars make contact in turn its Archie and Grimmjow they spin and the local caution comes out which means no passing in that area. Yasotora passes them both without wrecking move him to 6th.

Nate: Looks like Archie got a little aggressive and that is a bad spot on the track for them as more cars are coming.

Jeremy: No passing though this section as long as the flag is out. Archie gets going but he loses eight spots and now is 15th now make that 16th. Grimmjow though looks like he finally got it turned around as he goes across the grass and is now being shown in 21st.

"****ing damn it. I am going to get you Archie. "_Grimmjow, this is only one incident do not despair" _said the smooth voice of Aizen Souske. "Si boss." Grimmjow said as came down the front stretch.

Back with the leaders Serenity Ichigo and Andrew were still 1, 2, 3, but now Ulquiorra was closing in fast on lap 14. They had encountered lapped traffic as they were setting a good pace.

_"Ichigo careful lapped traffic ahead. I think that's Raoul and Ralph. __They haven't recovered from earlier" _Yuzu said over the radio. "Gotcha, you hear that Andrew" Ichigo replied.

_"Roger I think we can get her when she tries to get around them just be patient wait for your moment" _Andrew said as he kept an eye on Ulquiorra. Two laps later Ichigo's chance came when Serenity was working on the 3. Going into turn 1 Ralph cut inside forcing Serenity outside almost onto the outside curb because she was too close. Ichigo having seen this broke a little harder and slipped between the two. Andrew quickly followed as Serenity lost all of her momentum heading into the first stretch. "Later princess" Ichigo said going into turn four and five.

American Booth

Jeremy: Going to turn one, Serenity forced to go outside of Ralph and is forced out onto the curb. Ichigo and Andrew take advantage. It's now the Hondas 1 and 2. Serenity falls to third into the clutches of the number 04 of Ulquiorra.

Japan booth

Jushiro: "And with a brilliant piece of strategy, Kurosaki and Michaels are now in front of the defending champion

Kommamura: We knew it would get dicey with the lapped traffic but the rookies pulled that off. Kurosaki and Michaels are in front. Serenity now has to deal with the person she beat last year.

On the track.

Serenity had finally got back up to speed but now was fighting Ulquiorra off as she entered the slow part of the back stretch. Serenity tried to hold him off but wheel-hopped in the 11-12 chicane and lost control letting Ulquiorra by but now were trailing by four seconds.

Meanwhile with the two rookies they were just passing the line and were in high spirits.

"Oh yeah this is what I'm talking about" Ichigo hollered.

"_Don't get cocky there's lapped traffic in front of you. Also ten laps till a scheduled stop anything needed on the car." _Isshin said over the radio.

"Maybe a tear off, some water and it's a little tight in the left handers but this car rocks right now." "_10-4 just watch the traffic some of the cars are slipping because of the slick track." _Case in point, Ikkaku slipped off the track a little allowing the two by and lapping him. "_How's your temps. _"All green right now maybe a little high for engines. "_Keep an eye on it." _"Got it.

In Andrew's car similar sentiments were spoken between Kisuke and Andrew. "It's a little tight but importantly it's hot" "_We got water for you. Do you have the blowers on" _"All of them especially the rear brakes." "_Ok so you should be ok. There is some cloud cover coming in we might need to adjust for that" _"If its cloud cover there might be rain later like I thought. So loosen my car up the shade will tighten it. "_Risky but it might work" _"I know." Andrew said.

Lap 27

Ten laps had elapsed and it was getting down to the point where the drivers needed to come in. Some of them could go only 26 while others could probably go to thirty. One of the advantages for Honda was that they got some great fuel mileage and could probably stretch it but they had to determine when to come in. Staying out too long meant that with the new tires those who had changed their tires could go faster over those with older tires.

"Alright first pit stop guys get the tires ready. Someone get the water they have to be hot. Ryuken is Uryuu coming in soon" Isshin asked. Ryuken nodded as the crew moved the tires into position.

Some of the cars who were struggling mightily like Uryuu were coming in on the next lap and some of the commentators were making notes about it.

Jeremy: As we approach the edge of the pit window some of the drivers in the back are making their way on to pit road and we have a caution on the track."

Japan booth

Kommamura: Caution on the speedway and it looks like two cars ended up in the wall and partially blocking turn eleven.

Jushiro: Looks like Jessica Rosburg in the 12 and Michael Busch in the 18 let's look at the replays." Looking at the replays they saw Michael go in a little hard trying to get into the turn and when he was passing Jessica he wheel hopped the turn and both ended up in the barrier. They were now lodged in the barrier. The race slowed down as the safety car came out onto the track.

"Alright guys everyone should be coming in this time by I do not want any mistakes." Isshin ordered as the tires were placed on the side where the tires were going to be. Considering it there were twenty-eight cars (Two wrecked and six a lap down)

American Booth

Jeremy: "The cars on the lead lap are heading down turn 13 to the pit lane. The top five are the two Kurosaki Hondas Ulquiorra in the Mazda, Serenity in the Chevy and Soi Fong in the Toyota. We got to Jermaine in the 24 pit."

Jermaine: (With the cars coming down and air wrench going) "I have all four of the leaders right near me. Serenity is complaining of a tight car with the cloud cover. She feels the car could be better. Four Tires and a small air pressure change and a bottle of water. Ulquiorra has been what we expected quiet save for slight tightness. Ichigo has been happy with the race car and there is a jam in the air gun that is going to cost him big. Andrew's almost done with his service they are changing the right sides and remove a spring rubber to improve cornering in the left handers. And as they drop the jack he stalls the motor. Both of the rookies have problems their cars as the rest of pit road passes him. They finally get fired as Ichigo finishes his stop but they fell back far. After shuffling they were now 18th and 20th. Soi Fong from Kuchiki was in first followed by Ulquiorra, Serenity, Shawn and Archie."

"GOD ****INGDAMN IT WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE AIR GUN! KISUKE YOURUICHI GET OVER HERE" Isshin yelled as he tried to cool down his son. Kisuke walked over and looked at the machine and saw that it had some dirt in the gun. "Keigo I thought the air gun was clean." "I thought it was I'm sorry." Keigo said despondently. "It's alright we can recover. Ichigo calm down. "_I HAD THE LEAD AND THAT STUPID MISTAKE PUTS ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK" _

"You've a got a good car. We just need a way to get back into contention."

Kisuke though had a much a calmer conversation with his driver. "_Sorry Kisuke got a little over excited." _

"It's alright we can come back from this just keep your car clean.

"_How's the weather?" _

"Looks good for fast running might need to go up the middle to finish the race. Kisuke said in code

"_Good have Isshin get the intermediates out. Next pit stop I want to change into them." "_Are you sure that's wise. "_Kisuke I saw the clouds. It's going to rain by the end of this it." _"Alright then good luck." Kisuke said. He sighed, "This better work"

After three laps of cleaning up the track they lined up side by side. With Ichigo and Andrew being two spots apart they lined up behind each other. Uryuu was slightly behind them and Chad was running about the 13th as Soi Fong led them to the green flag on lap 32. Like on the first green flag there was a scramble down into turn one. As Soi Fong turned into turn one Ulquiorra got underneath her car and passed her as the exited the turn while several cars behind tangled up and causing a couple to spin. Ichigo and Andrew being right there almost collided but they forced their way through and picked up a couple of spots

Kommamura: As the racers enter turn Ulquiorra using that calm attitude he is known for gets past Soi Fong into 1st as the rest of the pack tries to squeeze through the turn. Three cars spinning, Ralph Dillon again just not his day, as well as George Schumacher and Rebecca Kirkland. As they go through the first stretch its Ulquiorra, Soi Fong, Archie, Renji we haven't heard from him today in 4th after the confusion and George Schumacher we also haven't heard from he has been quietly moving up.

In the cockpit of their respective cars Ichigo and Andrew were contending with other cars as the jostled for position

"Damn these drivers they are driving me nuts. "_Ichigo calm down just run your race" _"Alright, Here I go" Ichigo said as he out broke Kira who went wide in turn six for 14th. Andrew was following him. "_How are you holding up?" _Kisuke asked Andrew. "Wish I wasn't in this traffic Kisuke" Andrew said as he passed down the front stretch trying to pass another car for 16th and now was looking at Kira's white and green back bumper. '_With the field spread out strategy will play an important part. Ichigo and I can only go so far on the track."_ "Yuzu, what does the weather look like up there? _Cloud cover is increasing I see some darker clouds off Turns 2 and 3. Might rain soon" _"You hear that Kisuke?" "_Loud and clear so what do you want to do?" _"If a caution comes out before lap 50 we are coming in most of them are not to risk it that close to the line. Ichigo you got that?" "_Don't know if your strategy will work but I want to win show them we mean business"_ "That's the best we can do. Guys get the intermediates and the rain tires ready" Isshin called out to the crew.

Meanwhile in the pits of Ulquiorra and Grimmjow, Souske Aizen was watching the race with amusement. His driver was leading, Grimmjow was in 7th Tia despite some troubles was running 12th and Gin was in 19th. It looked like a good point's day so far. "Ulquiorra keep it up we have this race. "_Yes Aizen-sama" _'_Little upstarts. This Kurosaki-Ishida drivers are nothing to team of a god"_ Aizen said looking next to him at the one of the Kurosaki pits. "Sir it looks like the Kurosaki team is bringing out rain tires. Do you think we need too as well?" A crew member said. Aizen thought about it. "It is Australia; this little cloud cover will pass." Aizen coolly said as the crew member nodded. '_What are you up to Kurosaki?'_

Several laps had passed and it was now lap 47. Ichigo and Andrew were now in 9th and 10th. Chad had fallen behind them to 12th and Uryuu moved up to 17th. Other notables at this point was Serenity who had moved up to 4th and Renji had fallen to 7th. Other than the two who wrecked earlier, Michael Busch and Jessica Rosburg, there was one more retirement. A suspension issue caused multiple spin outs force Ralph Dillon out. Ulquiorra was lapping people again and had put another three cars a lap down.

Kommamura: We are half way through a fuel run and it looks like the racers have settled nicely as we approach the halfway lap. And we have smoke on the race track. Caution is out someone just blew his engine.

Jushiro: And it looks like it is Gin Ichimaru in 03. That is bad luck for Gin. Maybe his fox like ways backfired on him. Based on where we saw the smoke it happen on the stretch between the slow turns 6 and stretch to the 9-10 chicane

On pit road Gin was coming into the pits leaving a trail of smoke. He pulled behind the wall and drove over to the Souske hanger. "Sorry Aizen I guess I pushed the engine too hard." "Do not worry Gin we will still win with or without you." Aizen said as he walked away from the garage.

On track Andrew smiled. "Alright Ichigo I don't know how many people will come in but we are changing into intermediates." "Right pops you guys ready?" "_Ready any adjustments" _"Maybe a small air change in the left side tires" "_Right" _Isshin said

American booth

Jeremy: As the drivers come by pit road on lap 50 the front nine cars stay out. Ichigo and Andrew are the first ones in coming from 9th and 10th leading a group of about 9 or 10 cars including their teammates Jermaine what's going on.

Jermaine: This is apparently a scheduled stop they have been like glue since the start. They believe they can go to the end on one more stop. They are putting what looks like intermediate tires they think there is going to be rain. Small air change on Ichigo's left side and a slight track bar for Andrew and a bottle of water for both of them. And they are on their way with Andrew slightly ahead of Ichigo.

Japanese Booth

Kommamura: An interesting strategy for the Hondas. Most of the other cars were already in the back came in and decided to get some tires. What do you suppose they are going to do by changing into the intermediates?

Jushiro: I think they are planning on the race get rained on. The clouds seem to support the theory. But now they have to fight through the race with tires that may not work well in dry conditions as the green flag comes out on lap 52 with Ulquiorra leading. The three Hondas are 18th, 19th and 20th.

Andrew and Ichigo were fighting through the crowds again. '_Come on this has to work' _Andrew though as he passed Robert Johnson for 16th with Ichigo and Uryuu following.

Two laps later his prayers were answered when Yuzu came over the radio. "_Oni-chan, Tou-san I just felt rain drops over here in turn 4" _Indeed that part of the track was starting to get wet. A lap later more of the track got wet and some of the cars starts slipping in the back part of the track. The three Kurosaki cars that had the intermediate tires were gliding over the rain parts and were still struggling on the dry parts. However with the slowdown of several of the leaders, the Hondas were picking up time as several cars were slipping as the track became wet.

On pit road most of the teams were scrambling while the three Kurosaki stalls were just taking cover. "Ha-ha, that Andrew he saw this coming. Alright Yoruichi have Chad come and switch the tires I don't want him out there on the slicks." Yoruichi nodded and radioed Chad.

On track Ulquiorra was still on track but now he had to contend with the rain. Going through turn six he had to really slow down to avoid a couple of cars that were coming off the grass.

"Aizen I need to come in. I do not know if I can hold my car together" "_Sigh…come in next time, we need get the tires ready." _Ulquiorra acknowledged it and went down the front stretch. A second later the rookies assed the line and was gaining ground on the slower car.

"Great call on the tires Andrew" Ichigo said.

"Don't get cocky Ichigo. We have one stop left and we might be gambling on fuel and tires." Andrew said as he and Ichigo exited turn 6.

"_He's right Ichigo. With the cool weather I would suggest killing the fans on the brakes to conserve energy." _Isshin said. The two drivers acknowledged and shut off all the unnecessary switches. Andrew assumed the lead as Ulquiorra slipped down pit road as the rain started to rain a little harder. Andrew led a couple of more laps (61-64) and then with Ichigo having the better car he let him by.

American Booth

Jeremy: With some impressive piece of strategy Ichigo and Andrew are now one and two with third place George Schumacher about eight seconds back fighting off a challenge form Brian Mcnish in the Audi and Serenity in the Chevrolet.

Nate: They might be in front now but they have about six or seven laps on their tires more than those chasing them. This rain might be helping them forcing the cars to be slower by about 20 MPH. Still everyone needs to come in one more time. Expect the ones that came in on lap 50 to be in around before lap 80. The rest are in a bind because they might have to give up their position on the track in order to come in.

On pit road Isshin was doing some calculations. "If this rain keeps up we can pit with about 20 laps to go and if it stays green we can probably secure the win." "Our cars can squeeze a couple more laps then the American cars and the Mazdas. But you are right we need it to stay green or we could have problems.

Several more laps passed. Ichigo and Andrew were still one two but now their lead shrunk to about three seconds. Part of it was they were on older tires. Part of it was they were racing each other. Ichigo had a slight advantage but they were careful not to wreck each other. Meanwhile Uryuu was in 6th battling Schumacher while Chad was battling with Tia back in 12th.

Ulquiorra after being one of the last to come in and change tires was in 10th. "This rain and all of these racers are trash. "_Ulquiorra please calm down" _said his crew chief Cirucci Thunderwitch. "I am calm you just can't see it." "_We can still win this we just need some luck." _"I do not need luck I am better than all of these pieces of trash." Ulquiorra said as exited turn 3.

Lap 79 quickly approached. Tatsuki and Orihime were watching the crews as the got serious. This was the money stop. No mistakes this is where the race was won and lost. "Tatsuki this is getting exciting" Orihime chirped. "I don't know about exciting but it is tense." Tatsuki pointed out. "Alright no mistakes we need to do this right people." Isshin said. Ichigo Andrew and eventually Chad and Uryuu pulled off and made their way down. This allowed Brian Mcnish to assume the lead as he was still fighting off Serenity.

Jermaine: This probably going to be the final stop for both drivers. Both cars are handling great and they put on the wet tires. Both cars filled up with fuel and a good stop for all of the Honda drivers down and away in about 9 seconds. (Average Indy car stop is about 8-10 seconds, NASCAR is about 12-14 F1 is probably 7-9).

Japan booth

Jushiro: Well they are off cycle but no one despite the weather can make it from here since they stopped at around lap 60. Everyone else is going to have either conserve fuel or come in. But with fresh tires the 15 and the 91 will be faster than most of the drivers on older tires as they come out in 20th and 21st and already they are passing the 99 of Alexandria Edwards.

"_Alright you two you can make it to the end punch it" _Isshin said. "You got it/ Let's rock." The two drivers said as they started going a little faster as the rain continued to pour.

Eight laps later Ichigo and Andrew were now in 13th and 14th. Serenity had retaken the lead from Mcnish who fell to 4th behind Patricia Stenhouse and Grimmjow who fought back. With the speeds they are going they needed one more stop to make to the end.

Japan Booth

Kommamura: With Ten laps to go the race is reaching its conclusion, which will stay out who will come in and will the rookie drivers' strategies from Kurosaki-Ishida work?

Jushiro: They are in great position all four of them. They all stopped ten laps ago and most of the drivers in front of them will need to come in or try to conserve fuel. They can go as hard as they want as we see the two lead Hondas pass George Schumacher in his Ferrari move Ichigo into 10th and Andrew into 11th. With Uryuu in 13th and Chad in 15th this looks like a possible sweep. As we start seeing some of the drivers start to peel off are we going to four tires or just fuel?

Kiyone: That is a good question as we see a couple of the Fords come in and it looks they are taking fuel only. That appears to be the consensus up and down the pit road.

Jermaine: My colleague Kiyone is mostly right. The remaining Mazda teams will try to stay out at least Grimmjow who is currently 3rd on track. Make that 2nd as Serenity in the Chevy makes her way down pit road for fuel only. Back to the booth

Kommamura: This is getting intense with 6 laps to go and Patricia Stenhouse now leading. And now she pulls off and Grimmjow in the Mazda assumes the lead. Looking back the Hondas are slowly gaining ground with Robert Johnson now splitting up the Hondas in 8th with Ichigo and Andrew in front and Chad and Uryuu in the back. And now he pulls off for the fuel. And now we have a caution not what the Hondas wanted to see with five laps to go.

Jushiro: Looks like Maria spun around in turn 8 and now the top 5 must make a choice. Cautions typically are two laps to a green flag lap but the problem is that the Hondas have at least twenty lap's fresher tires a tough decision indeed.

On pit road Orihime looked up to Isshin. "What's going to happen now Kurosaki-san" Isshin sighed. "It's going to depend on how many cars pit. If I know Souske they want to win Grimmjow is going to stay out. The other four might come in. It's going to be a scramble for what looks like the last two laps." "Relax Orihime, I think they will pull it out." Tatsuki assured her bright-haired friend. It put a smile on her face but it was a hesitant smile.

Back on track of the top five in front of the Hondas only Grimmjow stayed out. "What is he doing" Andrew whispered.

"I don't know" Ichigo answered.

"He must want to win badly based on my calculations I don't think he can finish the last lap" Uryuu said.

"_My math is agreeing with you I don't he can go past the back stretch on the restart lap." _Kisuke pointed out.

"Ichigo your behind him is his engine running. Someone listen to his engine" Andrew asked. As they came around the front stretch the pit crew listened to the engines.

"_I think his engine is running" _Yoruichi said with her cat like hearing. Andrew nodded. "Whoever is lining up behind be ready to duck inside. "_He's right he should be in conservation mode" _Isshin realized.

"He is burning fuel with the engine running if he wants to finish this race in first he would need to cut the engines as much as possible. I want to avoid running into him in case he runs out." Andrew said. "_Andrew has a good point. Chad I think you are fifth get ready to duck" _Yoruichi said. "Got it" Chad said.

The one to go signal was giving next time by and they began lining up. Grimmjow lined up on the inside near the pit wall. "Hehehe… these Kurosaki punks have nothing on the might of Souske Limited." Approaching the pit entrance the safety car pulled off and the field entered the front stretch. "Alright time to win this." Grimmjow said as he hit the gas. Only for the engine to not respond, "WHAT…NOOO I'M OUT. GOD DAMN IT" Grimmjow, yelled as his car started sputtering. He tried shaking his car which caused several cars behind him to scatter in confusion

Andrew noticing that Grimmjow was slowing down when should have been speeding up. Realizing what had happened Andrew and Chad went to the inside of Grimmjow while Ichigo and Uryuu went outside. Ichigo was 1st Andrew had snuck around Uryuu for 2nd before the 1st turn and Chad was 4th.

American Booth

Jeremy: Restart with two laps to go Grimmjow leading them down. Green flag is in the air…and Grimmjow can't get it going he is out of gas. The Hondas scatter around him. Ichigo in the 15, Andrew 91, Uryuu 32, Sado 66, and now Rebecca in the 007 the top five as the go down the stretch towards turn six. As we see the 06 slowly towards the access road the Hondas are pulling away as the black and white 15 in front of the garnet and gold 91.

In the racecars the drivers were happy they were going to win. "Alright we are gonna win" Ichigo called out. "Yeah however don't think you will be the one on top of the podium Ichigo" Andrew said with a smile. "You right Andrew except that it will be me. "_Boys don't wreck each other we got the race in the bag." _Isshin said. "_Got it pops" _Ichigo said going into the slow turns before pit road.

Japan booth

Kommamura: White Flag is in the air. It's the Hondas 1-4 with Kirkland in the 5th. They just need to hit their marks. One car in the grass it's Kira but he keeps going. Out of Turn 6 and down to the 9-10 chicanes, the Hondas still looking good. Coming out of the last two turns, checkered flag is in the air its Ichigo, Andrew, Uryuu and Chad in a Honda sweep.

The drivers were ecstatic "WOOOHOOOO GREAT JOB GUYS YOU WERE AWESOME" Ichigo yelled out. "WORLD GRAND PRIX PREPARE FOR THE RISE OF KUROSAKI-ISHIDA" Andrew cheered. "Hm a win devised from strategy. Let's make sure this isn't the last one" Uryuu said with a smirk.

In the pits it's the crews were celebrating hard especially Ichigo's camp. Tatsuki and Orihime were jumping up and down but quickly composed themselves and shot the celebration by the crew. Isshin smiled and let out a big breath. Kisuke saw it and smiled causing him to smile as well. They bumped their fists and joined the celebration.

Out on the track Ichigo was at the start finish line and doing a victory burn out. He stopped the car and climbed the car. He waved to the crowd who cheered. Smiling he climbed back in and went to victory lane. When he got there his whole crew was there. Climbing out of the car all of the crews cheered as he got out and waved to crowd. Climbing down he saw Jermaine walking nearby.

Jermaine: So Ichigo how does it feel to get your first victory here in the World Grand Prix. Ichigo: it feels amazing. Like I couldn't believe the car I had today all of the Hondas were great. I got to hand it to my Dad and especially Andrew" Andrew came over and gave him a high-five. "This crew is great they turned it around after the first pit stop but this this just the first of what I hope is many wins here. Jermaine: So you are excited for the rest of the season. Ichigo Oh yeah bring it on. Jermaine: Thanks Ichigo go ahead and celebrate.

Later they were on the podium with Ichigo being handed the trophy for the race. They all got bottles of champagne as was customary of the winner. "Hm good champagne is hard to come by." Uryuu said. "Uryuu we aren't drinking it" Andrew said as he shook it up. "We are spraying it like this" Andrew said unleashing the champagne at Uryuu who proceeded to spray him and Ichigo. Later, Ichigo's team gathered for a team photo and as they were celebrating they knew it was only the beginning of their season. What's next on the Grand Prix Find out next time on Bleach Grand Prix!

Standings after Melbourne: (Standings reflect finish order for this race with bonus points applied)

Ichigo Kurosaki 28 laps led 40 points

Andrew Michaels 3 laps led 36 points

Uryuu Ishida 34 points

Chad Yasotora 33 points

Rebecca Kirkland 32 points

Ulquiorra Cifer 32 points 27 laps led

Soi Fong 4 laps led 31 points

Archie Stewart 29 points

Serenity Gordon 29 points 21 laps led

Dale Earnhardt IV 27 points

Renji Abarai 26 points

Tier Harribel 25 points

Michael Kennseth 24 points

Flippe Massa III 23 points

Ralph Hamilton 22 points

Francesca Alonso 21 points

Marcus Andretti 20 points

Brian Mcnish 20 points 2 laps led

Jason Webber 18 points

Patricia Stenhouse 18 points 2 laps led

Robert Johnson 16 points

Shawn Newman 15 points

Alexandra Edwards 14 points

Raoul Garcia 13 points

George Schumacher 12 points

Kira Izuru 11 points

Jason Vettal 10 points

Maria Robertson 9 points

Bjorn Kristensen 8 points

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez 8 points 5 laps led

Ikkaku Mandarame 6 points 2 laps down

Allen Regan 5 points 2 laps down

Gin Ichimaru 4 points Out

Ralph Dillon 3 points Out

Jessica Rosburg 2 points Out

Michael Busch 1 points Out

Team Standings Round 1 of 25

Kurosaki-Ishida: 145 points

Kuchiki: 82 Points

Hendrick: 75 points

Audi: 73 points

Red Bull: 73 points

Stewart-Haas: 67 points

Souske: 66 points

Rousch: 64 points

Ferrari: 44 points

**End of chapter**

**A/N: Finally done. I have the standings posted I will update the standings after each race chapter. Next update from me is my Pokémon/Kamen Rider story might be next week. Please check it out and review for me. I promise its good. Flamers ignored obviously.**

**Also with the next race chapter I going to post three lists at the end of each race. The finishing order the driver points and the team points so then end might drag. Don't let it discourage you.**

**Terms and facts.**

**Pushing: Another word for tight. The front end of the car does not want to turn or is slow to turn. If its to tight they run risk of running into wall. Think of a plow in the snow it is very hard to turn.**

**Loose: The opposite issue of tight. The car can turn but when you want to stop turning the rear will not stop. Often leads to spins or collisions.**

**Trackbar: In most non-open wheel series there is a part of the car that control how high the car rides when entering a turn. Raising it loosens the car and lowering it tightens it due to the physics involved. This normally affects the drive off or exit of the turn. In Oval racing this is important. In road racing its a tough call to do this. In series like F1 this is accomplished by adjusting the wings on the back of the car**

**Spring rubber: In most non-open wheeled cars and in normal cars this piece affects how the cars shocks absorb the momentum of the turns. It adds time to stops because you have to go inside the wheel house to get it. Depending on which side you remove it affects which tires get more pressure depending on the turn.**

**Running out of fuel: As seen when Grimmjow ran out of fuel he tried shaking the car. Most of the fuel pick up goes from the left side down the right and into the engine. When they run out they try to get some more to pick up. In fuel mileage situations like this drivers will often cut the engines and coast as much as possible. Grimmjow didn't and it cost Souske dearly.**

**Flag color:**

**Green Flag: Used to display when the race starts or is restarted. Also is displayed if the section a car is in is safe to resume driving**

**Yellow: Often displayed when the track or portions of the track is not safe to race on at full speed. If the whole track is unsafe, the safety car will come out. If only portions of the track is unblocked only a section will be forced to slow down and no passing or overtaking is allowed**

**White Flag: Normally displayed when the leader is on the last lap**

**Checkered flag: Signals the leader has completed the last lap and the race is over**

**More flag colors to come as they are appropriate**

**Preview: With the Australia Grand Prix done, Kurosaki-Ishida camp heads back to HQ for refurbishment and rest. The girls learn how to work with the pit crew and they prepare for the next race. But will Souske take this lying down? Find out**

**Next Time: Shop Class**

**Next two races I have four options to choose form. Japan is going to be round 4 however I am changing the track from Suzuka which is the test track for Honda to the Twin Ring Motegi road course which is a neutral site and a bit more recognizable. Plus looking at Suzuka it does not look like a track for the cars in this story. I am still on the fence where to go after. I am tempted to go America for at least two races after Japan. If there is a mistake let me know in a PM or review and I will fix it**

**OSPREY**

**Sorry one last thing I am going to be using terms that non-racing fans may not be familiar with and I might not know everything either. If you want to discuss this story like adults review or Pm me. I take time to at least answer my reviews. So if you flame me I will ignore it and delete it. Constructive criticism helps.**

**OSPREY...SWOOOSH**


	4. Unwinding and Testing

**OSPREY…SWOOOOSH**

**UO: Alright New Chapter from school. ACTOR CHECK**

**Andrew: Here watching a race**

**Ichigo: Present**

**Chad: (Nods)**

**Orihime: Here**

**Uryu: Here**

**UO: Good wait…not again…Where's Tatsuki? (Looks at Orihime)**

**Orihime: Uh…I don't know where she is **

**UO: Calling her. (Rings) Tatsuki its UO where are you? You just pulled up what took ya? Find out for myself alright. (Click)**

**Few minutes later Tatsuki walked up. Only thing was she looked well like a girl not a tomboy. Dressed in fashionable clothes that shows off her figure**

**Tatsuki: What?**

**Uryu: Nosebleed and faints**

**Ichigo: Blush and looks away**

**Chad: (Blush)**

**Orihime: (Giggles happily)**

**Andrew: Wow you clean up really nice**

**Tatsuki: Thanks…guess Ichigo liked what he saw? (Cast nodded and Tatsuki blushed a bit)) Tatsuki looks at Uryu: Pervert **

**UO: Wow I always knew you could be a knockout but man. Sigh…someone disclaimer please**

**Orihime: I got it. UnitedOsprey1991 doesn't own Bleach. If he did me and Ichigo would be a couple. Then somehow the blue men would get him Tatsuki as well. Also he doesn't own the tracks or the possible descendants of the drivers. The only characters he owns is Andrew, Rebecca although that might be debatable upon second thought. Also Rebecca and Maria are his creations as well. Also any product mentions aren't his **

**UO: I don't get out enough**

**Tatsuki: ORIHIME! (Tatsuki covers her mouth but Ichigo was still knocked out.) (whispers) Don't tell the readers that**

**UO: too late. Ugh every time even in my other story. Please review Journeys of the dreamer it needs help. Also upon further thought I decided to move my planned rounds back one so I could do a track that would be impossible in the summer. So Japan is round 5 and first part of America is 6 and 7. There is a poll up now to determine which track to go. Tracks will determine the plot.**

Normal: Dialogue

_"Italics and quotations": Radio and track announcer_

'_Italics and apostrophe': Thoughts_

CAPS: Yelling

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_**

Name followed by a colon: In-race TV Announcer

Underline: Locations and time difference

Chapter 3: Shop Class

Time skip: Three hours after the race.

The first round of the World Grand Prix had finished earlier in the day. The paparazzi had swarmed over the four rookies as they interviewed for several networks. .With all the flashbulbs it was a wonder how anyone wasn't blind. They also had to have a big press conference where they explained what happened in the race. The reporters especially wanted to know what happened with the rain strategy, considering the weather called for dry conditions. To which Drew replied he had a just a gut feeling about it. The also focused their attention on the winner Ichigo in which under the gaze of the reporters was a little flustered but answered them as calmly as he could.

They finally calmed after a couple of hours and the pit crew finally got around to loading up the cars in the trailers. The girls were documenting all of this after getting changed out their suits. They haven't gotten to talk to the drivers because of all the press however they were able to film enough of the post-race to finish one of the episodes and send it to their editor. They had changed out of their suits and were filming the next segment which was the between race area.

"Aww…Orihime why did you change out of that uniform it looked so-OWWWW!" Shinji started only to be hit by off all things a sandal.

"KEEP YOUR PERVERTED COMMENTS TO YOURSELF" Hiyori yelled and started beating up Shinji. Orihime giggled while Tatsuki grumbled about not getting to him first.

"Where are Ichigo and the others?" Orihime asked.

"Try the game room on the personnel plane" Kensei said. "They are probably cooling off; watching T.V or playing games."

The two girls nodded and went to the personnel plane. They walked past the kitchen and to a room that said GAME ROOM. Knowing they were in the right place they went in.

(I'm not going to make stuff up so imagine all of our technology took about 40 years longer to develop yeah they are that race obsessed)

Inside there was music blaring. Looking around the girls saw there were three forty-eight inch flat screen which was on the Fox sports network, with the current game consoles attached (i.e. Wii U, PS4, Xbox 360. Don't own them, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft do. Also let's just say the Kurosakis and the Ishidas have a lot of financial support both personal and sponsorships) There were also several very nice leather couches. In the corner there was a pool table which Chad and Ichigo were playing. They had changed into shorts and a sleeveless undershirt which the girls blushed slightly at the muscles displayed. On the couch Andrew was playing on what appeared to be a 3DS. Uryuu was on another couch reading, Uryuu was in casual clothes while Drew was in a white shirt and blue gym shorts. Uryuu noticed the girls first

"Oh hello Inoue-san, Arisawa-san" this caught the other three's attention. "Orihime, Tatsuki was wondering where you were. Guess in the shuffle we lost track of you" Ichigo said. Tatsuki waved it off "No problem." Andrew looked up from his game "Hey girls take a load off. Want something?" Andrew said putting his game down and walking to fridge. "This bar area is stocked with snacks and drinks what do you want" Tatsuki and Orihime walked over to see he was right. There were several sodas in cans and bottles. There were also snacks in the cabinets. Andrew pulled out a bottle that said Stewart's (Don't own but Damn it is GOOD) and popped the cap.

"What's this?" Tatsuki said pointing to the bottle. "Oh this is Stewart's Root Beer. I picked up a couple cases when they picked me up for the season. Would you believe that this and a shared interest in Nintendo is what broke the ice with me and Ichigo?"

"Really?" Orihime asked in wonder.

"Oh yeah, we were at each other's throats." Ichigo said walking over and grabbing a soda. "We were in the American Junior light car division, Andrew was a rookie the same year I started. If it wasn't me winning or arguing it was Andrew" Ichigo sighed and looked thoughtful. "Man that was what nine-ten years ago. Anyway one of the races was delayed heavily by rain where was it? Loudon? Dallas?" "It was Flemington, because I remember the week before I got my braces and you made fun of it at Dover." Andrew said taking a sip and walking back to the couch with the others following suit. Tatsuki had grabbed two of the root beers and handed one to Orihime "Right so anyway we started talking you mentioned a place not far from the track that sold this very tasty root beer and he was going to miss out on it and he was feeling depressed about it. I told them that I had never had that. Andrew gasped and we started talking. Turned out we had more in common than we thought. What really sealed the deal was our interest in Pokémon." Ichigo said taking a long drink from his soda. Andrew finished "Now we are basically brothers" "I hear that" Ichigo said clanking their bottles. Andrew saw something on T.V "Chad turn the music down the race highlights are on.

So the race was shown broken down to explain to the viewers about what happened. They especially paid attention when they brought up the first two pit stops. Seeing it from a camera rather than experiencing it for real was definitely different for the drivers. After the 10 minute highlight reel that included some of the interviews it switched to something about soccer. They turned away and the music went back up.

"Wow that was so amazing we only saw stuff from pit road, I didn't know what else happened" Orihime gushed. Ichigo smiled which got her to blush slightly "Well what do you think we went through we didn't know what had happened to bring out the caution. Now we know what happened on the first pit stop one of the air guns jammed. Stupid Keigo" Ichigo said.

Tatsuki retorted "Don't be mean I mean he made up for it?" She said taking a sip and the letting out a large belch. Embarrassed she covered her mouth and looked around at the guys and Orihime who looked at her in shock. "Excuse me" she muttered shyly. The snickers started from of all people Ichigo who started chuckling and then outright laughing followed by everyone else even stoic Chad let out a chuckle. They calmed down only for Orihime to burp as well which set off another round of laughter at her blush. Andrew made a comment "Tatsuki the rebel camerawoman and Orihime the innocent reporter, you girls are going to be fun to hang around." Which got laughter from the guys at the blushes of the girls as they drank some more and they started burping which soon got everyone laughing.

It was at this laughing that Isshin stormed in. "ICHIGO YOU TRULY MY SON! A VICTORY FOLLOWED BY KISSY TIME WITH MY FUTURE DAUGHTERS IN LAW" Isshin yelled trying to hug his son. Ichigo though stood up and planted his foot in his face. "EVERY TIME OLD MAN GIVE IT A REST" Ichigo yelled as they started to brawl again. Andrew sighed "Where's the Aspirin?" Uryu grabbed a bottle under the sink and gave Drew a couple as they watched the family "feud"

Next Day

After resting following the previous day all of the carriers were packed up and ready for takeoff. The drivers were still sleeping while the final preparations were made but Isshin would not let them sleep.

"GOOOOD MOOORRRNIINNNGG MY FELLOW DRIVERS" Isshin yelled through a mega phone turned all the way up. The drivers reacted in a different ways Uryu covered his ears, Chad didn't show an outward sign of waking up, Ichigo tore open his door and went to fight his father and Andrew came out took one look at the fighting duo picked up Isshin threw him down the hall and down the stairs. Satisfied he went back to sleep. The girls woke up frightened at the noise and when they saw Isshin get rolled down the hall they laughed and thanked Andrew for keeping the peace. He grunted thanks before closing the door.

A couple hours later they were finally in the air on their way to headquarters in Japan. The crew on the personnel plane which consisted of the two owner crew chiefs, the drivers, the reporter duo, Ichigo's sisters and some of the crew members were riding on the plane. The rest including Kisuke and Yoruichi were on equipment plane which took off afterwards.

Considering they were coming from Australia it would be at least nine to ten hours before they landed in Japan they crews busied themselves with whatever their interests were. Tatsuki and Orihime took their chance to interview some of the crew members who were lounging around.

"So you were one of the drivers for Vizard?" Orihime asked getting a snort from her target which was Hiyori. "Yep one of the best there was on the team. I was so psyched to be in the big leagues but somehow my team got caught with illegal modifications. My team might be full of knuckleheads but we aren't the type to go against the rules. The whole garage thought it was Souske Limited they had the most to gain from this but with no evidence they disbanded the team.

"Wow such animosity towards a team is Souske really that bad?"

"Yeah they are" Shinji said walking up to them. "I don't know how they started but Sosuke's money lies in computers and cars. They sprang up about eight years ago and they stormed through the lower tiers. However the year that we got caught it just so happened the beneficiary of our disbandment was Souske Limited. They won the first year they were up and if it wasn't for Hendrick they would be team champions right now." Shinji finished and the girls looked worried.

"Look girls" Shinji sighed "I know your reporters but do not go snooping for anything. I may be a pervert but when it comes down to it I will defend this team if I have to" Shinji said. Hiyori nodded then frowned and then smacked Shinji with her sandal. "DON"T YOU BRING UP YOUR PERVERTED ANTICS! Uh you're not recording this are you?" The girls shook their heads "good now GET BACK HERE" Hiyori yelled as Shinji ran during Hiyori's distraction.

The girls could only sweatdrop at the scene and left the kitchen area. They decided to go to the game room which was where they thought the drivers were.

They were proven right as they walked in and saw the screen was split into two shots. Loud gunfire was heard and the bottom screen went red.

"God damn it Ichigo I thought we were on the same side" Andrew cursed as he reset and killed one of their opponents. Apparently they were playing online on one of the popular shooters.

"Hehehe serves you right for the mine earlier…DAMN IT" Ichigo boasted only for him to be brought down by a headshot.

"Mine that headshot" Andrew smugly said even though he didn't shoot him.

The girls could only sweatdrop and walk over. Ichigo spotted them "Hey girls what-GOD DAMN IT ANDREW" "Don't get distracted by your girlfriends" Andrew said as he activated one of his perks and started racking up the kills. The two girls blushed at the girlfriends comment and watched the remaining time tic off the clock. The match ended and Ichigo had placed second and Andrew placed third. While Ichigo was trash-talking with the guy who won. Andrew pulled off his headset. "Hey girls what up

"Nothing much thought we see what you were doing" Tatsuki said. "Oh and here" Tatsuki punched him in the shoulder "That's for the girlfriends comment"

"Ow damn girl you can hit" Andrew said rubbing his shoulder.

Tatsuki rubbed her nose "Second-degree Black Belt in Karate" Tatsuki said proudly. "And I'm was a blue belt" Orihime said childishly.

"Interesting I always knew you could defend yourself girls. Black belt is impressive Ms. Arisawa I happen to have one in Tae Kwon Do. It was one of the things I do to keep fit.

"Hey I have Black Belt as well in Karate as well" Ichigo aid taking off his headset.

"Well now I say when we get back you guys spar a bit I'm sure it will be fun." Andrew set putting on his headset and starting up a match.

"Mind if we watch" Orihime asked shyly. Ichigo blushed a little. "Sure just make sure not to distract us." Orihime clapped happily and she and Tatsuki sat near the boys as they started up another death match on the game

Thousands of Miles away: Souske Limited HQ off the coast of Hiroshima

The Headquarters of Souske Limited was like a fortress. Founded by tech business mogul Souske Aizen the fortress five different areas. The area closest to the castle was for the testing of the tech that made the company billions. The area in front of it and separated by a wall was devoted to the test track and the garages for their cars. The third area was devoted to building and shipping of the products which contained the factory in which they were built. The fourth area was the white-collar office workers which were housed in a four-story building. The outer-most area was the area for the ships and the planes to come in and out of. There was a harbor and an airport that was built into the design of the facility. Despite being in an earthquake prone area the facility was designed to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and not sink.

It was in the castle that we find Souske Aizen sitting behind a desk looking at his drivers.

"So…what I want to know is what happened in Melbourne? The only driver that did well was Ulquiorra. Gin your engine blew up, Grimmjow your arrogance cost you on the final laps and Tier where were you in that race" Aizen motioning to the blond bombshell with tan skin emerald eyes and a bored look on her face.

"Aizen-sama forgive me my car was not the best it could have been and was not in contention for most of the race" Tier said.

Aizen waved her off "Everyone has an off day even the best team there is. Now then Grimmjow what happened with the end of the race."

"Tch… ran out of gas I thought I had more. Those punks at Kurosaki punks took advantage of me." Grimmjow growled

"Hm you are right…however you were in a bad spot. You were on old tires and it did not help you weren't conserving fuel. I wouldn't be surprised if they won but we would have been better in points. Now thanks to you we are 7th in the team standings after one race and Kurosaki those upstarts are in first and hold the top four in the driver's standings" Aizen said coolly though you could tell he was angry.

"They won't be getting the best of me next time Aizen-sama" Grimmjow said pounding his fists.

"And they will not. Especially considering the next track in two weeks" Aizen said pressing some buttons. "You know what this track is don't you Grimmjow?"

Grimmjow looked and grinned "Yas Marina hehehe my track" he said laughing. Aizen waved them off and dismissed them. Gin stayed back as the others left.

"So what is going to happen now, Aizen-sama" "Nothing right now, Kurosaki-Ishida are rookies this was just beginner's luck. We will have another title before the end of the year. Gin please bring me what happened to your engine I do not want a repeat of what happened."

Gin nodded and left leaving the businessman to his thoughts. '_Kurosaki-Ishida, you will not last in the top tier. I will make sure of it'_

Three days later Kurosaki HQ

After a long day of traveling and a day of rest due to the jet lag we find the Kurosaki drivers in a similar meeting but it was more joyous than the Souske camp. Orihime and Tatsuki were in the room filming the meeting just like at Melbourne.

"Alright this is the post-Melbourne race meeting. This will be relatively short. I know you guys did great but I want to hear from you what can we do to improve for next time" Isshin said to the seated drivers.

"Well I personally think I need to improve my cornering Uncle. Most of the positions lost was because I was not thinking about the turns" Uryu said lifting his glasses.

"More like you let them by" Ichigo scoffed. Uryu sent him a glare.

"Alright then Mr. Winner what do you think you could improve?" Isshin said putting him on the spot.

Ichigo looked a little sheepish "Uh well I guess my patience could some work most of my passes I bumped them out of the way. This I guess came about after that first pit stop. Other than that I guess communication between the teams I know Andrew led most of the team conversations that race" Ichigo said.

Isshin nodded although Andrew had to make a comment

"Aw Ichigo I didn't know you cared" Ichigo was about to retort but Isshin beat him to the punch

"Ok Andrew don't antagonize Ichigo. You can go next." Andrew nodded. "Ok I think patience is a recurring thing for us. My patience issue was in traffic and I could not get seem to stay in front of Ichigo. I also could not get back around him though I think Ichigo had the better car that day. I was fortunate that I was able to keep up with him." Andrew finished.

Isshin nodded and turned to Chad "Ok Chad what do you think you can work on.

Chad grunted "I think speaking more will help. I also want to try to be more aggressive on the track. I was almost lapped before the rain came.

Isshin nodded "Thank you Chad. Final order of business is a preview of the next race" he brought up a hologram of the next track. "Round 2 this year will be at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit. This is normally at the end of the year but considering the circumstances they put it at the beginning and chose it over Bahrain.

The image zoomed in on the track. "This 21-turn course is a fan favorite. You go down the pit stretch into turn one a left hander. This leads into a waving turns 2-3-4. Turn 5 is the beginning of a slow sequence which lead into 6 and the hairpin 7 a good area to pass and to wreck. After turn 7 you enter the one of the fastest parts of the track as it leads down a long straight into turn 8 which you have to go from 6th gear to 2nd in a short time another great passing area. This left right combo with turn 9 leads into 10 which opens up into the other fast part where you go into 7th gear briefly before another slow section that contains 11, 12 and 13 and then into 14. This opens up into three fast turns at 15 to 17 into a slow 18 and 19. One last straight brings you to 20 which leads into 21 which is another prime passing area. And that is one lap at Yas Marina. One last thing is the pit road." Isshin said highlighting the road. It begins on 20 and passes underneath the on track hotel. Where you come out is turn 3 so be careful of cars exiting there. Take care and see you next Thursday." Isshin dismissed the team and they left.

Ichigo and Andrew were heading to the gym when the girls caught up to them. "Hey guys where are you going?" Tatsuki asked.

"Well we are heading to gym we need to keep in shape. What you thought racers were all about racing you need endurance for some of these races. Especially with the next event."

"What Yas Marina where's that" Orihime asked cutely causing Ichigo to look away.

"It is in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. Specifically it's in the water of the coast of the capital Abu Dhabi. The country used to be a big oil nation when the hydrogen cell came about their access to undisturbed water only increased their wealth. Granted a war was fought over the area but with Saudi Arabia's and to a limited extent America they won and now control what used to be Iran (Its 2070 something like that is bound to happen to a big name country in that part of the world) Andrew said.

"And considering that part of the world it's a desert country correct?" Tatsuki concluded.

Andrew nodded.

"Why don't you join us" Ichigo asked. The two girls looked at each other "Sure what the heck we could use this to show what you guys do between races" Tatsuki added and Orihime nodded.

"Alright I'm sure you have some light stuff so grab that and meet us down on the second floor where our gym was" the group separated and went to go change.

A Half hour later finds the boys near the gym entrance waiting for the girls. "Any reason you wanted the girls to tag along Ichigo?" Andrew asked. He was in a grey shirt and red shorts.

"Well I figured they could see us work out maybe help them as well." Ichigo responded. He was wearing a black under armor shirt and blue short

"So…it's not because you wanted see Orihime and Tatsuki in their gym clothes. I gotta tell ya they would look good in them." Andrew said with a straight face. "NO THAT IS THAT IT YOU LITTLE BASTARD! COME HERE YOU" Ichigo yelled and grabbed him in a headlock and grinding his fist into Andrew's head.

"Ow ow ow let go man" Andrew said and then punched Ichigo in the gut. This went on for a couple of minutes until they heard some giggling. Turning their heads they saw Orihime and Tatsuki with gym bags. Orihime had her hair tied back and was wearing a blue tank top which hugged her breasts and black sweatpants. Tatsuki was in a black tank top and grey shorts.

"You two are just hopeless" Tatsuki sighed.

The boys blushed and separated and went inside. The two boys started stretching to make sure they don't get sore while the girls warmed-up next to them. Orihime noticed Andrew's stretching and commented "Uh Drew what are you doing?"

"Well I thought I practice my Tae Kwon Do after I work out. So I'm doing my stretches for them as well.

"Mind if we spar?" Tatsuki asked stretching her legs.

"Sure if you don't being beat" Andrew challenged getting a grin from Tatsuki.

With the red heads Ichigo was wrapping up his warm-ups while Orihime watched.

"So athletic Kurosaki-kun" Orihime said in wonder.

"Thanks I try. Come on grab that small camera of yours and let's show you what we do" Ichigo said noticing Andrew and Tatsuki finishing up.

They started going through their routines. The girl curiosities were peaked when they focused more on leg exercises. The boys explained by making sure their legs were strong they could last without them getting cramped or tired.

They then went over to the weight lifts. The girls were amazed at the strength of the boys as the lift 300 pounds easily. When the girls tried there were differing results. Tatsuki was able to get about 190 up, while Orihime's attempt was comical.

"(Grunt)…Mou Tatsuki I think this is a little heavy for me" getting the other three to laugh at her predicament.

"Ichigo mind watching Orihime for me I'm going to go interview Andrew privately" Tatsuki said as they gave the two some privacy.

"Sure…ok Orihime let's see if we can lighten this for you." Ichigo said as he took off weight from the bench press eventually lightening it sixty pounds.

"I'll spot you don't worry" Ichigo said with a smile getting the princess to blush a bit. Now under the bar Orihime started lifting with some difficulty.

"So what made you decide to be a reporter?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime breathed "I always was a curious person. People always said I was a friendly person. It was either reporting or going into elementary education. I was always great with kids. But I wanted to see the world and Tatsuki's parents had a connection with National Geographic so I went into journalism. I should show some of my stories sometime."

"Yeah I'd like to see them. I bet kids would love you just seem like one of those motherly types" Ichigo said as Orihime lifted the bar for the tenth time and dropped it on the rack.

Orihime smiled up at him. "You know up close you have a handsome face. I thought you were scary but you couldn't be scary if you tried." Ichigo choked and blushed at that causing Orihime to laugh.

"Alright Inoue-chan let's go finish the work out" Ichigo said holding a hand out and helping her up. They proceeded to finish their routine.

Meanwhile Andrew had finished his workout and was working on a couple of katas. Tatsuki had filmed this to show what they could do individually. She knew of course she would need to focus on Chad and Uryu but right now she focusing on the two here in the gym.

Andrew finished one kata and started another when Tatsuki started asking questions.

"So how long have you done this?" Tatsuki said pointing to Andrew who threw a punch.

"Well about five years less than racing. I mean being behind the wheel was ok but" here Andrew launched a back kick "I needed something to develop my motor skills and focus my mind off the track." Andrew said throwing another kick.

"Why would you need to focus off the track?" Tatsuki asked watching in amazement as he leapt with another kick and ended with a punch away from her.

"Sigh…promise this isn't turned around?" Tatsuki looked at Andrew who sounded serious. "Yeah"

Andrew turned around and sat down by her. "I'm autistic. Do you know what that is?" Tatsuki blinked "Wait isn't that the mental disorder that affects a lot of children. I though most of the cases were people who couldn't operate correctly or are very awkward in a social environment. How could"

-I have it?" Andrew cut her off. "I have a mild form of it. If you pay attention you could see the subtle signs of something amiss. That is why I race. I want to race to prove that autistics can do more than what their peers say they could." Tatsuki looked thoughtful then they heard a yelp. Looking over they saw Ichigo had fallen back catching a medicine ball and Orihime in horror had went over to help him. The two looked and laughed a bit at her expression.

After that they showered and left the gym heading towards the Kurosaki house. After about 45 minutes of traffic they finally arrived at the house. It was a two-story house that was laid across several acres. It looked like modern Japanese home with some western influence.

"Whoa, Kurosaki-kun's house is huge" Orihime said in wonder.

"Yeah definitely has my house beat" Andrew grumbled.

Ichigo smirked "Welcome to ancestral home of the Kurosaki clan, the Mugen no tsuki (House of The endless moon). So named because our family was founded on this land under a moonless night several hundred years ago. Our fortune is big, but we don't let it get to our heads." Ichigo said as they got out of the car.

"So what does your family do?" Tatsuki asked.

"We primarily run medical facilities. The Ishidas control part of it but for the most part we run hospitals in Asia and the United States. We also have a hand in some of the technology that makes Japan run. So you can say we are a very diverse business. If it wasn't for racing I would probably be a doctor" Ichigo said as they went inside. Taking off their shoes Ichigo called out "I'm home Dad, Yuzu, Karin are you here."

They heard someone talking loudly and laughing. They walked to the door and knocked.

"Come on in son, Andrew I think you will want to talk to this guy."

Entering they found an office strewn with file cabinets and books. Isshin was talking on a video conference with a brown haired man with brown eyes and a slightly wrinkled face. If the girls didn't know better they were looking at an older Andrew.

"Dad?" confirming what the girls thought.

"Hey sport what's going on?" The man on the screen said back.

"Nothing much we just got back from the gym what are you talking about with Isshin."

"Well other than catching up with Isshin about you and Ichigo we were talking about a business deal.

"I thought you were kidding about that you are going to insure these guys" Andrew's eyes widened.

"Nope we are in the final stages of negotiations. If Mr. Ishida can approve of this and their board does we will insure their whole business. Their E&O insurance will net us millions in premium alone." The man on the screen said.

William Michaels was the CEO of Allied Insurance Inc. He was the great-grandson of Michael Smith who founded the company not long after his son Andrew Smith, Andrew's grandfather and namesake, was born. Andrew had three kids of which his only daughter Mary married and took on the name Michaels and giving birth to two kids William and Steven.

His business in which his Great-grandfather started grew from a small time business into one of the largest insurance businesses in America. Now they were looking to expand beyond the borders and Isshin had given them a way to do that.

"That's…great. Unbelievable even" Andrew said tearing up. Everyone saw this and left to give them some privacy.

"I miss you man" Andrew said touching the screen. "Miss you too sport. I saw the race 2nd place not bad for the first race in the big leagues" William said smiling. "You're going to come watch a couple of our races when we come to America right?

"Would not miss it for the world sport. Just let me know where we could meet"

"I think one of the races coming up is at Daytona another I think is Watkins Glen later this year.

"Sounds like a plan. Alright let me talk with Isshin. Love you sport."

"Love you too" Andrew said as he walked out and Isshin came in.

Andrew walked by his companions, tears still in his eyes. He left before they could talk to him.

Ichigo sighed. "It's part of the business. To go so long between seeing family that you often treasure the time you do spend with them. We may be an exception but Andrew is like a stranger in a strange land. He's the only non-Japanese on this team, heck in all of the Japan garages. We took some heat in hiring him but he takes it with dignity. I think that's why he latched onto us we have that familiarity to him. Give him some time he'll be fine.

A couple hours later they were sitting at dinner eating one of Yuzu's delicious meals Andrew had come in before the food was done in a much more chipper mood.

"Hey Andrew you feeling alright" Yuzu asked worried as they sat down.

"Yeah I'll be fine; it's part of the job. You get to see the world but you don't get to see your family for months on end. I thank you guys for putting up with me." Andrew smiled sadly.

"Don't be ridiculous you're our son even if we aren't from the same family. MASAKI WE FINALLY HAVE A THIRD SON!" Isshin wailed only for Ichigo to nail him and started brawling.

Andrew couldn't help it he busted out laughing which brought smiles to everyone's faces. "I'm sorry…I just can't help you guys just make me laugh. I may be a Michaels but family is family regardless of blood" Andrew said raising his glass to gathered group. "I say this for Chad and Uryu as well to family and to a great season" "KEMPAI" and with that they finally started eating with happy smiles all around.

Later that night the boys were lounging about in their shared room talking about nonsensical things.

"Huh…never knew that about the Second World War." Ichigo pondered. Being Japanese his schooling covered World history and certain conflicts from Japan's perspective.

"Yep…Germany could have easily won the war if they didn't try to fight on multiple fronts or understood the Russian winter better." Andrew said."

Ichigo nodded and turned his head towards the ceiling. "So what do you and Tatsuki talk about at the gym?"

"Oh some stuff from the past. I'll tell you when I feel comfortable about it ok."

Ichigo nodded "So you won't tell me but you will tell a girl you have only known for a week something private." Ichigo said teasingly. Andrew looked away.

"Let's just say something in her told me to trust her. Attraction maybe, friends definitely; we will see in the future. It's late now Ichigo I know we have a day off tomorrow so I would like to sleep in some at least until your father comes in." Andrew said rolling over in his bed and falling asleep. Ichigo rolled his eyes and did the same.

Three days later about an hour from Karakura. 

(A/N: Suzuka is in what is known as the Mie Prefecture which is considered part of the culturally significant Kansai region. I'm putting Karakura close to the border with the Kyoto prefecture. Suzuka City, where the track is, is located in the northeastern part of the prefecture. If someone can tell me canon wise where it is it will be helpful.

After a day of rest Isshin told the drivers they were going to be testing for the next couple days at Suzuka Circuit. The track which was run by their cars manufacturers Honda was one of three tracks that Japan regularly used for racing the World Grand Prix, the only reason it wasn't going this track this year was that it was on a rotational basis and it wasn't their turn. That honor belonged to the track at Motegi. But it didn't mean they couldn't use the track for testing.

After a day of running tire tests and engine tests they came back to run a trial under race conditions. When they arrived they were surprised to find someone already there practicing. Driving around they saw the logo of Kuchiki Industries.

"What the heck are they doing here this is a private practice" Ichigo growled as they parked.

"Now Ichigo let's be civil I'm sure they could share the track" Andrew said climbing out. Walking towards the garage they came across Isshin talking with a man about his age a petite woman a couple years younger. He had black hair and cold grey eyes. He was wearing a white scarf and a set of kenseikan in his hair. He was wearing a grey business suit and brown shoes and in contrast to Isshin's personality he was a stone wall. The woman beside him by contrast had an air of elegance. She had dark blue hair and had brown eyes with looked full of life. She was wearing a casual blue dress and shoes.

"So Byakuya you don't mind us testing do you I mean we did plan two days of testing." Isshin asked in his normal tone.

"Hm…I suppose we could see what you rookies could do out of an actual race." Byakuya noticed the other drivers approach. "Oh I see your last 2 drivers are here." Isshin noticed them approach "Guys meet Byakuya Kuchiki and his wife Hisana the head of Kuchiki Industries. Mr. and Mrs. Kuchiki meet my son Ichigo, my fourth driver Andrew Michaels and our reporter duo Orihime Inoue and Tatsuki Arisawa."

Andrew having manners beat into his head stepped up "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Kuchiki." Andrew said holding out his hand. An awkward silence followed only to be broken up by Hisana. "Don't mind my stick in the mud husband it is nice to meet you." "Hisana please don't ruin my image of a Kuchiki noble." Hisana only giggled.

"Alright suit up cars are already here. Chad and Uryu are already on the track." Isshin said getting their attention.

The driver went to go get changed while the girls went to the pit boxes. Suzuka was like most tracks the pit road was on what would be the passenger's side. There was a series of s-curves on the back stretch but its most unique part was it was a figure eight. The drivers passed underneath a bridge and went into the infamous 130R turn and doubled back to the pit straight. Tatsuki started taking pictures while Orihime started wondering about aimlessly. She didn't notice anything until she bumped into someone and fell backwards. Looking up she saw a stern-looking woman. She was average for a Japanese woman (currently an expected height for Japanese woman is around 5 feet 2.) with blue hair tied into two braids. She was wearing black and gold race suit which reminded Orihime of a bumble bee.

"Hey watch it you" Apparently she the attitude of a queen bee as well.

"Gomen mam" Orihime stuttered out. The woman took another look at her.

"Hey you're a civilian this is a private practice" she said picking up Orihime surprising her with her strength.

"Matte, wait I'm a reporter. Where's my press pass" Orihime said frantically searching for her pass.

"HEY HANDS OFF OF HER" A familiar voice sounded. Tatsuki had found Orihime's press pass and was looking for her when she heard her shout. Tatsuki ran up and pulled Orihime free.

"What the heck is wrong with you? And for that matter who are you?" Tatsuki yelled which got a glare from the woman.

"I am Soi Fong driver of the 002 for Kuchiki Industries. As for her she is trespassing on a private practice." The blue haired woman now identified as Soi Fong.

"No she isn't she has her pass right here and here's mine" holding up both passes. Soi Fong scoffed and let Orihime go. She turned around and went to her car.

"Hime you alright" Tatsuki asked concerned. Orihime nodded. "Now then where did you run off to without your pass?

"Gomen Tatsuki but I guess I got curious at the track" Orihime looked down. Tatsuki sighed and handed Orihime her pass "Don't lose this pass please I don't want you to get in trouble.

Orihime nodded and they went towards the garage.

Meanwhile with the drivers Ichigo and Andrew suited up and met with Uryu and Chad. They were walking towards their cars when they heard a loud smack. They ran over and came across a comical sight.

A black haired woman with glasses and wearing a brown top and white skirt was chasing a brown haired man in a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. The bizarre thing was that the man was holding a sake bottle.

The four young drivers watched the scene with a sweatdrop. "Uh…what time is it?" Ichigo asked.

"I believe it is about 10:30 in the morning standard Japan time" Uryu said.

Andrew groaned "You Japanese are so strange. Drinking before noon really?"

The woman looked up "Oh I'm sorry" she said acknowledging the newcomers. "Please excuse this drunkard. I'm Nanao Ise, the camerawoman attached with the Kuchiki team. This man here is Shunsui Kyoraku, the reporter.

"Oh Nanao you look lovely in that dress" the now named Kyoraku said only to be bonked on the head again.

They heard another group of laughter and they all turned to see two more people. One was a red head with a head band and what looked like tribal tattoos on his face in a red and grey race suit. The other was a bald man in a black and blue race suit.

"You two never change do you?" the bald head said. The four rookies looked at the newcomers and Ichigo had a thoughtful look on his face.

"What's with you carrot top" the red head asked.

"I don't know you look really familiar" Ichigo said.

"What you recognize these looks from the winner—OOMPH!" The red head said before Ichigo's eyes lit up and punched him (That seems to be a recurring theme in this series in general)

"NOW I REMEMBER! YOUR THAT BASTARD PINEAPPLE RENJI ABARAI!" Ichigo yelled only to be punched back by a quickly recovering Renji.

"ONLY ONE PERSON CALLS ME THAT! ICHIGO WE MEET AGAIN" the now named Renji said as they started to brawl.

After a couple minutes the brawl was broken up by a smaller girl holding up a notebook.

"Renji nii-sama will be disappointed in your behavior. Ichigo it is nice to see you again." Ichigo looked up and saw what looked like a smaller Hisana in a pit uniform.

"Hello Rukia…hehehe nice to see ya" Ichigo groaned. Rukia scoffed "You haven't changed since we dated.

"Old flame Ichigo" Andrew asked.

"Yeah though we broke it off amicably, though I don't what I saw in a midget rabbit loving—OW" Ichigo started only for Rukia to bonk him.

Andrew took one look at the scene groaned and face palmed. "Ugh…if anyone needs me I will be at my car." Andrew said starting to walk away. "Hey where are you going?" The bald headed man yelled out.

"First off who are you and second I'm going to my car." Andrew said picking up the pace.

"I'm Ikkaku Mandarame and you aren't going anywhere without a fight."

"Fine ding dings WHAM" Andrew answered and leveled Ikkaku knocking him out.

Andrew sighed. "Japan is a wonderfully strange country" he said walking away.

An hour later found all eight drivers on track practicing. The Honda drivers met with the final Toyota drive Kira Izuru who was much nicer if not more gloomy than the other three. Out on the track they were testing the cars capabilities. Soon it would be the pit crews turn to train.

"Alright guys let's begin pit road practice. One at a time" Isshin called out. Chad came in first and with a little slowness on the gas he was down and away. Uryu followed with a similar result. When Ichigo and Andrew came in, well it got tricky. You see Orihime asked Isshin if she and Tatsuki could try and do a couple of pit stops changing the tires. Isshin agreed to the driver's grumblings.

Tatsuki tried on Andrew's car first. She didn't have as much difficulty as people thought. She was able to use the air gun and got the first tire on but when she transitioned she slipped and fell. She got up and with her concentration shot she could barely get the air gun to work right and place the tire. It did not help that someone was yelling to go faster in her ear. She was tuckered out when she finished her first pit stop.

Orihime went next on Ichigo's pit stop. She fumbled with the air gun as the car pulled in. Next she struggled pulling the tire off and then putting it on. Then she ran to the other side and fumbled again. By the time she was done she was exhausted.

"Oh…man…Tatsuki…this is hard" Orihime panted. "You know I though it looked easy but man it is tough lugging those tires around and then speed through the changes" Tatsuki moaned.

Isshin laughed "You girls are alright. Maybe some practice and you could be working the pits with us." The girls just collapsed at the thought.

After a couple more hours the tech teams had all they needed to make sure they could run adequately at races down the road. This was of course after the drivers bumped spun and race the cars out.

After changing out of their gear the drivers met up to say their good-byes.

"You did alright there Ichigo" Renji said grinning.

"Yeah like that race in Melbourne was a fluke just you wait" Ichigo grinned and they shook hands.

Ikkaku looked at Andrew. "You really are something if it wasn't for my car at Melbourne I could have easily kept up with you. Andrew scoffed "Keep telling yourself that." But he smiled nonetheless

Ichigo turned towards Soi Fong after shaking Renji's hand. "I hope you can keep up Miss Fong. It will be entertaining to see the rest of the year."

"Cocky bastard just you wait I will destroy you and especially that Gaijin of yours"

"Whoa what's with the hostility Miss Bee" Andrew said wondering where this anger came from "Your crew chief is Kisuke that bastard took Yoruichi from me when Vizard went under. I will get her back.

"Well then I wish you luck getting her back she is under contract. Besides I happen to like Kisuke as my crew chief" Andrew grinned as the queen bee lashed out only to be held back by her crew chief a heavy set man name Murchiyo Omeida.

All the drivers laughed and separated. Ichigo Andrew and the girls got into Andrew's mustang and started to head back to Ichigo's house.

"Ugh I can't believe your pit crew goes through that every time" Tatsuki said from the back.

"I wouldn't really know I just drive" Ichigo said.

Orihime was just smiling at the interaction as they talked about the day's practice.

About a half hour into their drive Andrew noticed something.

"Ichigo has that car been following us" Andrew pointed to the rearview mirror. Ichigo looked up and saw a black Mazda behind them. "I think it is. Pull off at the next exit I know where we are."

"Kurosaki-kun is everything alright?" Orihime asked. "Everything is alright Inoue-chan just sit tight. Tatsuki where's your phone.

"Right here I also have my regular camera here as well" Tatsuki said.

"Good Andrew pull off here" Andrew did so and the Mazda followed them. After a couple turns that pointed them in the right direction Andrew intentionally missed a turn. The Mazda followed their every move.

"Ok they are following us what are we going to do" Andrew said.

"Working on it" Ichigo said looking around. Now the Mazda was closing in almost bumping them.

Tatsuki spotted something. "Look a cop car"

"Got it any ideas how to get their attention." But before they could the cops flashed their lights as both cars went by him. Andrew pulled over and was about to pull out his license and registration when the cop ran by him chasing the Mazda.

"Well that was lucky" Andrew said as they drove back to the house in silence.

The girls got of the car when they arrived while the boys walked behind them. "Who was that?" Andrew pondered as he looked at his car for damage. "I don't know but I don't like it. We need to watch our backs this year something tells me we are in for a long year." Ichigo said as they walked to the house.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Andrew said as they contemplated who the driver was in the Mazda, not realizing this was only the beginning as someone did want them gone. But who is the question? Find out on the next edition of Bleach Grand Prix.

**END CHAPTER**

**UO: Done with that one. Next chapter is the race weekend at Abu Dhabi. Poll is now up for the next two races afterwards. Please vote and review constructively.**

**New Terms**

**Yas Marina Circuit: Built about thirty minutes from the capital city of the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi it is built on a man-made island and is part of one big entertainment complex. It was completed in 2009 and was designed by Hermann Tilke a renowned track designer of the 21****st**** century. Most of the new tracks built right now have his brand which is a long straight with a hairpin turn. In 2070 the track is relatively the same with more seating capacity. Because of its location its normally held towards the beginning or the end of the year. With the enclosed cockpits one of the challenges of a driver is the heat in the cockpit.**

**Other Real world tracks mentioned**

**Flemington Raceway: A former dirt track in Flemington, New Jersey. **

**Dover: One of NASCAR's tracks. A former horse track paved over with Concrete its former name was Dover Downs. Nicknamed the Monster Mile because of vastly changing conditions, it is one of the track in NASCAR's Sprint Cup version of a playoff.**

**Loudon: New Hampshire Speedway. A flat one miler in the state of New Hampshire. One of the races in the Sprint Cup playoff.**

**Preview: Round 2 is upon the grand prix. With the knowledge of a desert race most of the teams have drivers on standby in case of heat exhaustion. As the race heats up and his engine temps climb will the Kurosaki-Ishida team succeed or blown up in the desert sun.**

**Next time: Enduring the Desert.**

**Please review kindly. Next update is my journey of the dreamer story until then.**

**OSPREY…SWOOOOSH**


	5. Enduring Abu Dhabi

**OSPREY…SWOOOOSH**

**UnitedOsprey1991: Next chapter. ACTOR CHECK**

**Orihime: Present**

**Tatsuki: Here**

**Ichigo: Here**

**Chad: Here**

**UO: Good…wait…sigh every time. Where's Uryu?**

**Ichigo: Don't know said something about becoming the Quincy King or something.**

**UO: Hold on (leaves studio. Loud screaming is heard from the Seireitei and Heuco Mundo. UO comes back with Uryu.)**

**Ichigo: How did you do that?**

**UO: Never underestimate the author. Kubo is just blowing up your original story. Btw love your new sword design.**

**Tatsuki: UnitedOsprey1991 doesn't own Bleach the various manufacturers or the teams. Only characters he can definitively say he owns is Andrew, Maria, Jessica and Raoul. Otherwise he would be very rich.**

**UO: Thank you Tatsuki without any prompting**

**Ichigo: Kiss ass.**

**UO: I'm sorry you want your engine to blow up on the first lap?**

**Ichigo: No (gulps)**

**UO: I thought so. On with the story, go check out Spartan719's stories most of them were hashed out by him and me. And review please on this and my other story they are really good I have been doing well on three reviews but I could use some serious help.**

Normal: Dialogue

_"Italics and quotations": Radio and track announcer_

'_Italics and apostrophe': Thoughts_

CAPS: Yelling

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_**

Name followed by a colon: In-race TV Announcer

Underline: Locations and time difference

Chapter 4: Enduring Abu Dhabi

Time skip Five days after the end of the last chapter: (That would be the next Tuesday following Melbourne, One travel day two rest days two test days if the race was on Sunday which it was and then four other rest days).

It had been four days since the mysterious car trailed after Andrew's Mustang after their 2nd of between race testing. During this time they rested and prepared for their next race. Now was the day for traveling to their destination of Abu Dhabi.

The crews were just finishing loading up the primary and back up cars at their Headquarters. Off course there were some humorous points during this process which included Hiyori and Shinji arguing again and somehow Mashiro got distracted moving some wrenches and hurt Kensei which caused him to chase her around.

The two reporters were finishing backing their clothes and camera gear and heading towards the car to where Ichigo and Andrew were waiting.

"So what do you expect at this race Tatsuki" Orihime asked childishly as they put their shoes on.

"Don't know but from what I know from Andrew it is going to be hot, despite the time of year.

"Oh…I hope I packed enough sunscreen?" Orihime pondered causing her friend to sweatdrop.

"This is not a vacation Orihime we are on a job" Tatsuki chastised as they approached the car seeing the two boys talking about nonsensical things. Seeing the girls approached they waved and went over to grab their bags and put them in the trunk. Once properly loaded they were on their way after locking the gates and the door of the house.

The trip was relatively quiet compared to the last time they were in this car as they talked about different stuff. When the subject of the race came up, Ichigo put a stop to it.

"But why?" Orihime asked pouting. Ichigo in his head though she couldn't be any cuter. But he recovered and answered.

"Because we don't want to think about the race right now it is not the day of the race or practice. I'm sorry Inoue-chan it's a thing for me" Ichigo said which got a nod of understanding from Tatsuki.

"Think of it like other athletes they want to focus on other stuff then their actual event because they don't want jitters before an event" Tatsuki explained to her bubbly friend who got a nod from Andrew

"That's exactly right Tatsuki." Andrew said from the driver's seat. Then he turned a little serious. "Tatsuki, Orihime something to warn you about. I don't know if it has changed since their war but the United Arab Emirates is an Islamic country and I personally don't know if they are liberal like Turkey or conservative like Saudi Arabia their neighbor when it comes to women's rights. But I want you to be warned and I think Isshin is going to remind the crew of that. They probably will not do anything because at least a third of the drivers are women so they wouldn't do anything hopefully. Just stick close to the team and I don't think we will have trouble, Ok?"

The two girls looked worried but nodded as they pulled up to the gates and entered the base.

Now that the girl could look at the planes they were amazed the Kurosaki team could afford two. It was a third generation Boeing V-22 Osprey (Do not own it's a real military plane) one of the few planes that could take off and land vertically. The first generation was put into service at the turn of the millennium in the US military. The third generation was fifty years evolved from the propeller driven fighting machine. Its appeal was the fact they could take off like a helicopter which made it appealing in a war-time scenario. These crafts were jet driven and powered by two hydrogen jet fuel cells which went further than standard jet cells. They could tell based on what the girls experienced that the planes were heavily modified for civilian transport and luxury travel.

"Wow how could Kurosaki-san afford all of this" Orihime said in wonder as they pulled into the hanger bay and climbed out. Ichigo grinned and explained

"Well when you have a family with as much as we do we can afford some stuff like this. That's part of it, the other part is we had a contract with the Japan Defense Force, the U.S gave them a surplus of these and when we called they provided. Of course we made some modifications as you can see" he explained gesturing to the surroundings.

Andrew scoffed and took off towards his room. "What's with him" Tatsuki said pointing at the departing American.

Ichigo sighed "He might see us as a family but he is of the belief you need to work for the money. One reason he particularly doesn't like Kuchiki is that they come from a line almost as old as Kurosaki and Ishida. The other teams he could be neutral but we haven't been interacting with the other teams enough to know that.

"I guess he doesn't like that you could afford this." Tatsuki said crossing her arms. "How the heck is part of this team then?"

"That's the only thing he doesn't like about us and he didn't care we had money. He beat me multiple times on a weak budget. Heck he couldn't even come to some races those first two years until he attracted sponsors." Ichigo said as the girls looked at the area Andrew walked through.

A couple of hours later they were in the air ad were flying over China heading to India. Andrew was in his room listening to music and looking up at the ceiling. His room was similar to the girls but with a larger bed. His room was decorated with posters of anime he liked watching and sports teams from back home. A knock on the door shook from his musings. He went to the door at saw Tatsuki at the door.

"Hey Tatsuki what up" Andrew said but from his tone he didn't want to talk with her. "I…just wanted to see how you are doing.

"Uh huh…you were curious about why I stormed off and you were told about my dislike for the wealthy" Andrew said and at Tatsuki's reaction he knew he hit the money. He sighed and opened the door a little wider inviting her in.

Upon entering his room she saw the room and whistled at the décor.

Andrew heard it and chuckled "I figure you would think that I would have pictures of American shows and the like. Well let's just say anime is awesome and it has a profound impact on the youth on my side of the Pacific.

Tatsuki nodded and looked at the posters a little closer. She noticed the poster for a show called Bleach which she noticed a couple of the characters looked familiar.

"You can see it too. I brought up that the Bleach characters look a lot like members of the Japanese teams to Ichigo especially the main character who has the same name as him. Go figure.

Tatsuki figured what he was doing was stalling and she looked around a bit more. She noticed a poster above his bed. It looked like what she read was an original native from the Americas riding a white horse. The strange part was there were several helmeted figures shadowed in.

"Florida State" Andrew said snapping her out of her musings. "That figure is the mascot of the Florida State Seminoles a college American football team, (Don't own it) Chief Osceola and his horse Renegade. My family has had at least one member go to it the last seven generations. My cousin Matthew is a sophomore baseball player there. If it wasn't for racing I may have gone there. I took online courses and graduated last year. I was a history major. Anyway it's because of this school my car colors are garnet and gold.

Tatsuki nodded and sat down on a chair. Andrew sat on the bed. "So what's up" Andrew asked. "Your reaction to the money comment" Tatsuki asked.

Andrew sighed "You can record this if you want" Tatsuki nodded and pulled out a small camera. "I enjoyed racing. It was a family bonding experience with my dad. It wasn't until I started going national that I understood the financial burden. Around that time there was a stock market bubble building up in the economy. It burst about three months into the season. My father bless his heart did all he could. He was in the middle of making sure his company stayed afloat. He was a smart man and saw warning signs and prepared accordingly.

As the economy fell I was fortunate to only miss only a couple of races. But as I looked around the garage some of the underfunded teams didn't make it to the end of the season. Some of the other teams however had big money backing them including Ichigo. By the end of the season I was in dilemma. The money we set aside in the account for racing was almost gone. The last race of the season was at New Hampshire; there were several sponsors. They would take the top 5 drivers in points and sponsor them accordingly. The big name then was a big telecommunications company that would only sponsor the winner. I had to win the last race and get sponsored by them otherwise my dream would be over.

I raced that last race with all my heart. I had the best car and I was going to win. Three laps to go we restarted I had taken the lead. Ichigo was out of the race at this point. So I was leading I came down to final corner and this guy drove up to me. Absolutely no one liked him in the garage, anyway we both exited the corner and he wrecked me deliberately" Andrew said eliciting a gasp from Tatsuki who noticed a few tears from Andrew

"I wrecked into the wall and as I watched the cars pass me I cried. I cried because my dream was over. I climbed out of the car and sat down on the track and just broke down and cried. Then I heard several boos from the crowd. I knew it was that bastard climbing out of the car to accept both trophies. Then I heard the announcement that threw me through a loop. It was the spokesperson for the telecommunications company. I can remember exactly what he said.

"_Based on our observations and our better judgment we realize that someone who is willing to wreck other people for their selfish desires is not worth sponsoring. We and my other associates here will not sponsor him._

"Then I heard something else that changed my destiny, this came from the race director.

_"We have determined that as Joshua Reynolds has violated the beliefs of sportsmanship and other violations we have stripped him of the title of 2064 NASCAR Junior division champion and of the win. It is by unanimous decision by the drivers and officials that Andrew Michaels be our champion as he would have won had other circumstances not been involved._

"I was stunned and watched as the rest of the garage came out to congratulate me. I told them that I was not going to accept it until I finished this race properly. I climbed into the car and the amazing thing was us the whole garage helped turn my car around and when I started it up the whole crowd was cheering and yelling as I eased my car across the line.

By this point my eyes were completely teared up as I pulled into victory lane. I climbed out of the car and it was so surreal. After me and Ichigo settled our differences we were probably two of the most well-liked drivers. They heard of my money situation and all of them were willing to give us money. Both my dad and I denied the assistance more so out of pride. So when Joshua won like that everyone booed and supported me. Anyway, I just couldn't believe I did this. But before I could accept the trophy Joshua in a fit a rage came up in an attempt to hit me. At this point my emotions were running on high I just decked him which silenced the crowd. I looked around and sheepishly replied "Uh…sorry I got carried away."" Tatsuki giggled at this point "Hey it was a serious moment; anyway everyone started clapping as they cheered my response. The representative who made the announcement then came up to me and introduced herself. She told me that she would have been happy to sponsor me. I was shocked and I thanked her and it was at this point my dad broke through the crowd and grabbed me in a hug tears in his eyes. It was a like a dream" Andrew finished his story and Tatsuki had tears in her eyes from it.

"That was…I don't how to describe it" Tatsuki said wiping her eyes. "Thanks there is a moral to this. I know what it's like to not have money and it's a bad feeling. I almost lost my dream to someone's greed. Ichigo he doesn't like to flaunt it but I can't help but be envious of his wealth." Andrew sighed.

"So why are you telling me this" Tatsuki asked. "I trust you that is why, no other reason needed." Andrew said.

Tatsuki nodded with a slight blush. "So now what" she asked.

"Now that I got that off my chest I'm hungry. Let's go eat and then go tease Ichigo and Orihime about their relationship" Andrew said with his usual mirth getting Tatsuki to laugh. They stood up "Tatsuki?" she turned to Andrew sitting up "Thanks" "No problem" the two left Andrew's room and went to go tease the red heads.

Two days Later Yas Marina Circuit (Qualifying unless it's something big I am only going to summarize the qualifying from here on)

The Kurosaki team was among the first teams to land in Abu Dhabi. They were warmly greeted by the track owners as they unloaded the cars. The first thing that they noticed it was HOT. Unlike Australia where there was a chance of rain, as evident by their strategy in winning the race, there was no chance of rain at all. Despite the time of year being early March it was still in the high 80's to 90's during the day and it was dry as a bone. Because they were used to such cooler and more humid climates most of the teams got a shock when they stepped off their plane.

Now they were getting ready for qualifying and the Kurosaki drivers were dreading it, well three could be seen, Chad was stoic as always. For qualifying Andrew would go out in the first group, Ichigo the third, Uryu the fourth and Chad the fifth.

Andrew was already in the car waiting for the command to move out. He was with Jessica, Felipe, Michael Kennseth, Marcus and Raoul.

"Just my luck I got the first qualifying group in a desert environment" Andrew said taking his warm-up lap.

"_Just do the best you can we can make it up on track" _Kisuke said over the radio.

"Right ugh…this car is already stifling and we have to 110 laps in this heat." Andrew grumbled slowing down to enter the hairpin and got way loose and allowed the car behind him to pass him.

"Sorry I think I have a very loose car. Doesn't help that this track is slick, come hit your marks." Andrew said the last part to himself as he went down the second long stretch.

After the ten minute session Andrew was the fourth on the board and he was not happy with his performance. The only ones behind him was Raoul and Marcus and that was because they had a worse car than Andrew.

Andrew was cooling off in the shade of the garage when the girls walked up to him.

"You alright Andrew" Orihime asked concerned.

"Yeah, god damn my car what was going on today. Ugh…that heat is going to be a factor on the cars and on the drivers." Andrew said

"What do you mean?" Tatsuki asked sitting on the tires next to him.

"Well it was just my luck that I went out with the first group. Because of the heat the track is slick and makes the cars hard to control. Just my luck I had a loose race car on top of it. The last two groups I guarantee the pole sitter is coming out of those groups. I'm beginning to think there is a jinx on American drivers. No American has won in the Middle East, either here or at Bahrain since the grand prix started. That includes the time lost to the conflicts that plagued the region. I hope to change it this weekend but my qualifying spot will make it tough" Andrew said as they watched the second group finish. Mcnish was the fastest in this session edging out Michael for second and Felipe was still first on the board.

They walked up to the pit box as Ichigo strapped in. He was in the group with Soi Fong, Michael Busch, Serenity, Rebecca and Tier. Andrew walked over to his car.

"Ichigo that track is slick be very careful especially on the fast turns" Andrew advised. Ichigo gave him a thumb's up and started the engines.

Out on the track Ichigo was faring a lot better than Andrew. However he still made a couple of errors particularly on after the second long straight where they were forced to slow down from seventh gear. Still he managed to be the fastest in the session but was about a second off of Felipe's time.

Ichigo climbed out of the car and was swarmed by the reporters as he was the point's leader so none of his comrades could come up to him. After giving his comments he walked over to greet his team.

"How was it" Andrew asked.

"I thought I had the time to beat but that last section heading towards the pits is going right into the sun I could barely see the track I had no plans to wear the sun visor. That's what caused my time to drop. Uryu better be careful on the track." Ichigo said as they went to the garage to stay in the shade.

Uryuu took the track next and it was obvious that the later groups were benefiting from the shade as he ran a time good enough for third fastest. This session was dominated by spins and cornering as most of the remaining five of the remaining seven American drivers were on the track. There was some laughter especially from the European drivers that they couldn't handle the track. This was especially laughing at the rookies who were on track. This track could be fast but it was a very technical especially on the second part of the track.

By the time Chad took the track the sun had gone down enough to provide some shad. This was evident in the lap times as he only lost to Soi Fong and he was situated behind Uryuu in 6th with one session left. Flippe was still in front and proved to have a good time to beat, which the other drivers took note off. That changed when Grimmjow took the track and in a blazing performance set a near track record or 1:41.02. Climbing out of the car he grinned and cheered his performance as reporters swarmed him about his performance on the track.

"I love this track. And this is where I bounce back from that disaster at Melbourne." Grimmjow said arrogantly at the reporters. When asked whether or not someone could be a challenge he scoffed "Only ones I see being a challenge are my team Felipe and maybe Schumacher. After what I saw today the two Kurosaki drivers that won last time were nothing but flukes by the time we get into the long stretch these rookies will be nothing more than a stain on our windshield" Grimmjow said as he finished and started to walk away.

Over in the Kurosaki garage they were watching the interview and the two more vocal members of the team made their thoughts known.

"What a bastard. Ten bucks says he has brake trouble and doesn't finish this race" Andrew said growling.

Ichigo scowled and nodded in agreement "I say something happens to his engine" Ichigo said as they shook hands at the bet, causing Tatsuki to shake her head.

"I don't know about you but I say he blows a tire" Uryuu said getting a sweatdrop from Tatsuki

"Really you are betting on misfortune for a driver. Chad what do you say" Tatsuki deadpanned.

Chad grunted a response "Suspension" causing Tatsuki to face fault and the other three to grin and shake hands. Orihime was giggling the whole time

"So we are in agreement something will happen to him? Winner gets 40 American dollars." Andrew said and they all shook hands

"God is everyone on this team crazy" Tatsuki said picking herself up and Orihime was still giggling as they went back to the personnel carrier.

(For consistency here is the starting line-up for this race)

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Flippe Massa III

Soi Fong

George Schumacher

Rebecca Kirkland

Uryuu Ishida

Chad Yasotora

Brian Mcnish

Ralph Hamilton

Ulquiorra Cifer

Ichigo Kurosaki

Ikkaku Mandarame

Michael Kennseth

Robert Johnson

Jessica Rosburg

Tier Harribel

Francesca Alonso

Renji Abarai

Jason Vettal

Serenity Gordon

Michael Busch

Maria Robertson

Andrew Michaels

Jason Webber

Archie Stewart

Kira Izuru

Dale Earnhardt IV

Bjorn Kristensen

Marcus Andretti

Alexandra Edwards

Ralph Dillon

Shawn Newman

Allen Regan

Gin Ichimaru

Patricia Stenhouse

Raoul Garcia

(As you can see some of our heroes have their work out for them)

Two Days later Race day

The sun was just rising in Abu Dhabi but in the Kurosaki plane despite the air conditioning it was still very balmy inside the plane. Most of the guys were in their boxers while the girls were forced into long t-shirts. Still they thought the morning craziness would be put off for a week right? Well…

"GOOOOOODDDDD MOOOORRRNNNNIIIINGGGG ICCHHHIIGGGOOO" Isshin's voice sounded through the sleep quarters waking up everyone, some more disgruntled then others.

"WHAT THE HECK OLD MAN IT IS WAY TO EARLY AND TO HOT FOR THIS" Ichigo said as he started "brawling" outside the doors. Among the doors the opened up were the twins, the reporters and Andrew's door.

Karin's reaction was expected as she rolled her eyes and went back inside to dress for breakfast. Yuzu though was watching the fight with concern as Isshin was dropped onto the floor. "Oni-chan, Tou-san please stop its too hot for this."

Andrew watched the fight with disinterest and then sighed. "This is way too early…I am going to breakfast" Andrew said as he went back to change. Coming out of his room in a sleeveless t-shirts and sleep shorts he noticed the two girls out of their rooms and looked away. "You might want to change girls; I don't think you want your bodies shown off like that when we probably know nothing is there." Andrew pointed out.

Tatsuki and Orihime looked down and Orihime squeaked and hid behind Tatsuki who hid behind the door. "You didn't see anything…did you?" Tatsuki asked a little timidly.

Andrew chuckled "don't worry your little heads, although I think me and Ichigo wouldn't mind but we are gentleman first. And according to Ichigo apparently Miss Shihonen wears less on a normal day go figure." Andrew said walking away

"Do you think he meant that Tatsuki" Orihime said quietly. "He warned us I think he means well. Let's get dressed Hime, and get breakfast. And no bean paste" Tatsuki warned causing her red-head companion to pout.

A half-hour later they were all sitting down to breakfast of cereal and other stuff when Isshin made an announcement.

"Alright settle down. I got something to say" When the hole table was looking at him he continued "I had a meeting with Grand Prix officials. Addressing concerns about driver safety we have back-up drivers designated if the heat in the car becomes too much. Kensei you will sub for Uryu" the grey haired man nodded "Love you will be with Chad" the afro man gave a thumb's up "Shinji you will be Andrew's replacement" Shinji smiled at that "Lisa you will take over for my son if he needs it." The stoic girl nodded.

They all broke from the meal and went to get ready. Orihime and Tatsuki ran to catch up with the drivers.

"Ok…why are they asking for substitute drivers" Tatsuki asked.

Andrew explained "Because of incidents in the past where drivers have fainted in the excess heat, they want to make sure that we can get through with no problems. Better get ready then.

They four drivers showered and went into their dressing rooms. Andrew went over to his IPod and turned it on. After a few seconds of searching it found a song and began to play

Begin Montague Desert Rose by Sting (If you got another song for this circumstance please PM me. I don't own the song)

As the song started up Andrew pulled out his uniform, he also pulled out a special shirt which went under the fire suit. He had a feeling he would need it.

Out in the car carriers the various crews were pushing the cars down the grid as the blazing desert sun started to climb into the sky. The crews were setting up for the long day with water coolers filled with water and Gatorade.

The drivers were over by the fans signing autographs. They could see just from the perspiration it was already hot and the drivers were a little worse off in their suits.

The fans in the stands were buying up water and fans and they were seeking shade where they were. Some stands were right in the middle of the sun others weren't yet.

In the booths of the various T.V studios the A.C's were cranked up to make sure their equipment didn't over heat. In the Japan booth Kommamura was panting like a dog (ironic considering in canon he is a fox which is a dog family member) as he had just came from their car in the infield.

"Kommamura-san are you alright" his co-anchor Jushiro said as he wiped his handkerchief on his head.

"Yes I am Jushiro it's just I don't do well in heat so forgive me."

"It's alright I remember this track well…I feel sorry for the drivers who have to deal with this" Jushiro said amusedly as they prepared for their broadcast.

Over in the American booth Nate and Jeremy were going over last minute preparations amidst the fans. The papers were being held down due to fans blowing about.

(Stop music)

In the driver's meeting they had just broken up and the drivers were walking back. Andrew was about to walk away when he noticed the American teams were getting ready for a small sermon.

"Andrew you coming" Ichigo asked. "Tell Isshin I will be there in a few minutes just trust me."

Andrew said as he walked over to the group. Tatsuki and Orihime trailed with their cameras and walked over to another gentleman who had black hair in a uniform with Hendrick colors and looked about the same age as Isshin. This was Allen Bestwick the team reporter entrenched with the Hendrick.

"Hi…um sorry I'm interrupting but may I join your sermon I feel like I need something extra today." Andrew said nervously.

"Sure you can young man all are welcome to this sermon please have a seat" the crew chief of Serenity said as Andrew sat down next to a black haired man with a small beard in a blue and black suit. This was Robert Johnson long-time friend of Serenity and member of Hendrick Motorsports.

As the impromptu sermon went, the group prayed for a good race and for them to endure the heat in their cars. Andrew looked down as they ended with the Lord's Prayer, thinking it ironic they would say this in a predominantly Islamic country.

As the group departed, Serenity caught his attention.

"Mr. Michaels what a pleasant surprise…never pegged you for a religious man" Serenity said as they started walking towards the driver introductions.

Andrew replied a little sheepishly "I normally am not at a track. Something tells me I needed something in me today."

"Well I say good luck Mr. Smith. Ms. Arisawa I hope you stay cool this weather is nasty for our hair" Serenity said as she walked away.

The two looked as she walked away and then proceeded to follow her short ways behind one a little ticked and one a little flustered but that could have been the heat.

American Booth One hour to race time (Play Fox theme)

Nate and Jeremy opened the broadcast up

Jeremy: "Good day to everyone around the world watching at home or wherever you are watching the race. This is round two of the World Grand Prix and we are live from a very hot Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. I am Jeremy Buck alongside Nate Jarrett We begin with highlights from Melbourne and impressive display by the rookies of Kurosaki-Ishida.

Begin Montague of images from previous race as Nate starts up (I'm sorry if I am replaying the scenes but in a real sports broadcast you get inundated with these)

Nate: The two rookies Ichigo and Andrew led the field down to the green but last year's champion was able to get through and lead a few laps with the two rookies holding behind until she got loose here" pointing at the time Serenity lost the lead "and the two rookies took the top two spots.

J: Then the first stop as we pull up a split screen what happened here Nate

N: On Ichigo's car one of the air guns jammed as they were taking off the right side tires had to get a new one. On Andrew's car it looked like he stalled the car when he over revved the engine. Either way they dropped down below 20th and they were not happy as evident by the crew chief reaction.

J: Lap 48 things get interesting as three of the Hondas come down pit road and went from dry tires to intermediates what do you think of this decision.

N: I think this was going to be a bad decision but as we saw a few laps later it was a smart call. Lap 54 the rain came and cars started slipping and sliding but the three Hondas with their tires were going through the field like men on a mission eventually taking the lead when Ulquiorra had to pit

J: Lap 94 the final caution was brought out and this was not what the Hondas wanted as everyone had to come in one more time.

N: Yeah except it worked out when everyone but Grimmjow our pole sitter today came in and topped off. On the restart Grimmjow ran out of gas and this allowed the Hondas to sweep the top four spots as we take a look at the standing we see Ichigo and Andrew 1-2 and the defending champ Serenity in ninth.

J: Now we go to two of the pit reporters Kiyone Kotestu and Jermaine Ferguson who are standing by underneath the tent for the pre-race ceremonies with our point leaders. Jermaine you are first

Jermaine: Thank you Jeremy, Andrew what a race last week you and your entire team. How do you feel?

Andrew: I feel great second place was about as good as I could have hoped for. But it will be hard to duplicate that success my car wasn't handling that great in qualifying and practice was below what I expected but we made some changes so hopefully this Kurosaki will be ok.

K: What about the weather how are you going to cope with that.

A: Well it ain't Florida I can tell you that…Hahahaha" Andrew laughed and so did Andrew

K: Good luck today. A: Thanks mam. K: Andrew is rolling off 19th Now to Jermaine with Ichigo's thoughts.

Jermaine: Thanks Kiyone. Here we are with last week's winner. Ichigo, you won your first race in the Grand Prix. How are you feeling going into today?

Ichigo: Last week was a rush, the ups and downs and the winning that was crazy last week. The whole team should be proud of themselves. This 15 car this week is good but I know quite a number of people who do pretty well here. So let's hope for the best although the heat will be a huge factor.

Jermaine: I bet it will good luck today. Ichigo: Thanks Jermaine. Jermaine: Ichigo rolls off tenth guys

One Hour later

After the pomp and circumstance surrounding the opening ceremony, the drivers were hooked up in their cars and were putting on their helmets.

Over by Andrew's car, Andrew was adjusting his gloves when Tatsuki and Kisuke walked up to him.

"How are you feeling?" Kisuke said "Like a cookie in the oven" Andrew deadpanned. Kisuke laughed sheepishly, and then turned serious "The heat will play a factor today. Watch your temps watch your tires and more importantly watch your body. If you can't go on Shinji will step in.

Andrew nodded and shook Kisuke's hand. Tatsuke walked up to his car "Good luck today we are rooting for ya"

"Thanks though you're not the one an oven" Andrew joked. Tatsuki laughed and walked away as Kisuke put up the net and now he was in his own world.

A couple rows up sat a blue and white Mazda. The driver of said car underneath the helmet was a tanned blonde with green eyes. Her figure was brought out by the suit but it was her demeanor that told the story she was stone-faced not just in the car but out of it. This was the Argentine Tier Harribel.

"Are you ok Harribel-sama" She turned her head to see a green haired lass in a similar-colored uniform. She was accompanied by heterochromic blue-eyed woman and a tall black woman with brown hair.

"Of course she is Sung-sung she could handle anything especially this crummy heat" the blue-haired woman said arrogantly.

"I don't think she needs to hear that Apache. Maybe you should be in the car or maybe you should go home"

"WHAT WAS THAT MILA ROSE?" the now named Apache said

"Your being childish again." Sung-sung said as the bickering duo left for the pits leaving Tier to her thoughts.

'_Those three…We sacrificed so much for each other. We would still be on the streets somewhere if it wasn't for my driving ability.' _Tier thought as settled into her seat.

Further up the grid Isshin had just left the car and Orihime was still there talking to Ichigo through the net.

"Good luck Kurosaki-kun please be safe" Orihime said with less than normal enthusiasm.

"I will Inoue-chan, just stay cool out there ok" Ichigo said as the red-headed princess nodded and walked away causing Ichigo to sigh.

"AND NOW THE MOMENT WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! DRIVERS. START. YOUR. ENGINES.

The roar of 36 engines came to life as the drivers flipped the ignition. They also flipped switches controlling the brake fans and the gears and even the batteries.

As they rolled off the grid the various networks began breaking down the race.

Jeremy: As the drivers start their warm-up laps let's show how this Abu Dhabi Grand Prix flown by Emirates Airlines (do not own) is going to go.

Nate: It is 110 laps in this grueling desert with a fuel window of 25-28 laps. As we said air temps are in the 80's but the track is already pushing 130 as we enter the mid-afternoon hours it is very hot in these race cars.

Jeremy: Grand Prix Officials have said if the driver needs it they will have relief drivers on standby.

Nate: We see some of the drivers, who are waiting for the chance to get in the car as we look at who's subbing for who.

(When I start denoting the car numbers it means they have switched drivers)

One lap to go and the cars were lining up heading towards the second long straight as the crew were doing the final radio checks.

"Yuzu how are you holding up" Ichigo said.

"_I hope I have enough sunscreen and water up here" _Yuzu said from atop the spotter's area in Turn 14. The spotter's area had a small A/C room but it didn't provide enough viewing areas due to some of the stands.

"_Ichigo focus on the race I'll worry about your sister" _Isshin said as the cars entered turn 18 and the pace car sped up a little to enter the pits which went underneath the track. As Grimmjow, Flippe and Soi Fong went around turn 21 and saw the green flag as the race began. Grimmjow having started on the inside was able to get through turn one cleanly as the rest of the field bunched up to come into turn one. The front 6 managed to get through but there were bumps and near spins as Ichigo moved up to ninth as Hamilton and Ulquiorra got around Mcnish and Chad who both slid into the sand as Ikkaku pushed him from behind. Robert, Jessica and Tier followed through before Mcnish got back on the track. Further back Andrew had to slow down to avoid running into anyone and he was able to squeeze through past two cars that also got into the sand.

At the front of the pack Grimmjow was entering the hairpin turn after slowing down in turns 5 and six. As he went into the hairpin turn his rear end slid wildly as he went into it way too hard and slid outside. By the time he got up to speed Flippe and Soi Fong had passed him but he shut the door on Schumacher as they starting going down the stretch.

Back in ninth Ichigo was entering the turn and he managed to get under Hamilton and completed the pass and started going through the gears on first long stretch.

A half a lap later heading into the fast sweeping corners Andrew was in 19th and was on the back bumper of Francesca. Going into turn 18 Francesca slid outside and Andrew slid underneath her and sped through 19 and into 18th. He was lining up his next target Renji and knew he was going to be a tough one to pass based on his stubbornness.

Japan booth

Kommamura: The first lap is complete and the craziness this race is known for rears its ugly head with several cars sliding into the sand in Turn 1. Flippe who started 2nd passed Grimmjow in the hairpin and Soi Fong managed to get around him entering the first stretch.

Jushiro: Many cars are slipping and sliding throwing up sand. As the race wears on this might become a factor.

On track

Four laps had passed and the racers had finally settled down. Some of the drivers were not able to assess their cars. Flippe was still leading but Soi Fong was on his tail and George Schumacher was closing in. Rounding out the top 5 was Rebecca who was fighting off a challenge from Ulquiorra and lost as they entered turn eleven due to Ulquiorra's breaking ability. Grimmjow still battling a loose car had slipped to 8th. . Ichigo had not moved forward much in ninth and was now facing a challenge from Tier who had a really fast car in 10th. Uryu and Chad were still hanging around in 6th and 7th. Andrew was in 14th now fighting Ikkaku for 13th

American Booth

Jeremy: Five laps in and the racers have settled down. Flippe leading and Soi Fong are 1-2. Grimmjow is sliding back what are they saying on pit road Jermaine

Jermaine (With cars in the background) Grimmjow is complaining of a loose car especially coming off the left handers as he falls to ninth with his teammate passing him going into turn 18. He is just trying to hold on right now.

Nate: (Back in the booth) Grimmjow might level out as the fuel is burned off. Meanwhile Tier she is living up to her nickname The Shark as she is hunting the seventh place driver. Kiyone

Kiyone: She is really happy with the car and told her crew chief that she can probably win this race.

Lap twenty

Several laps had passed and other than Tier moving into the top 5 nothing much had changed. Even Andrew's march was stalled behind Grimmjow as the cars started to wear a bit.

Japanese booth

Kommamura: As we approach green flag stops the crews are getting ready underneath the track. And we have a caution on the track one car into the barrier at 8.

Jushiro: Looks like Hamilton blew a tire and slid into the runoff near turn 8. Debris and tire rubber all over the track that tire must have overheated and you can see the result. He was lucky that wasn't worse but that car's front end is completely trashed he is done

Kommamura: Tough break for the 22. The leaders will be coming in next time by while they clean up the track.

As the cars came around for the pits they were relaying what they needed to their pit crews

Ichigo

"Four tires, fuel, water and please loosen this car up I feel like it is pushing in the right handers." "_10-4 let's go"_ Isshin

Andrew

"Four tires, fuel, water, loosen me up and remove some tape from the grill" "_Got it Andrew._"

Grimmjow

"Tighten this car up people I cannot drive off the corner without it swinging out on me. "_Hai Grimmjow" _Grimmjow's crew chief Syzael said.

Tier

"Four tires, fuel, water no changes Sung-sung "_Yes mistress" _the cyan-haired woman said.

American booth

Jeremy: Lap 24 everyone is coming down pit road we take you down to our pit reporter Jermaine Ferguson.

Jermaine: Uryuu is going to be the first one my area. He is struggling slightly in the right handers. A sway bar adjustment and four tires, plus a bottle of water they have gone through a lot. Meanwhile Tier her car has been great the whole first 25 laps no changes to the chassis she is down and away. Flippe is calling for tires and a wedge adjustment his car is looking good. Soi Fong is asking for four tires no changes and she gets out ahead of Flippe and she will assume the lead as the rest of the pack heads out of the pits.

Jeremy: Soi Fong did beat out Flippe for the first spot. Tier still continuing her climb is now third in front of her teammate Ulquiorra and Yasotora rounding out the top 5.

On Ichigo's radio he was having a discussion about the pit"

"That went well all things considering" Ichigo said from 7th. Uryuu was 8th Chad was 10th and Andrew had a little trouble on the pit and was back to 13th. "_We might need to settle for the long haul how's your temps" _"A little high but I think it's because of the traffic."

"_Oni-chan the winds picked up I see some sand swirling around the track" _"Thanks Yuzu. Great control might be worse"

"_Might also need to worry about the sand getting into the engine, I will relay it to the other teams" _"10-4."

Over on Andrew's channel a similar conversation was taking place. "Kisuke what happened there was my timing off?" "_No sorry think we had a little trouble with the fuel line. The way this track is setting up I think I just cost you big." _"I will try to fight my way through but other than the restarts we might need something big to win. "_Let me think of something but don't be disappointed if we can't think of anything. One lap to go on the caution how's the engine temps. _"Temps look good removing some of tape might do some good. As for me I am doing ok.

"_Just be careful of your engines and remember if this heat gets too much Shinji is on standby" _"I know I can handle it right now.

One lap later on lap 27 the green was waved and it was more orderly this time as they went into turn one. Soi Fong led them down into the hairpin turn and down the first long straight. As she sped down the stretch she pressed down on the accelerator and felt something off and her car slow. Looking at the gauges she saw her voltage from her battery at zero. She quickly tried to switch to her back-up but as she was doing so four cars passed her including Chad as she tried to get up to speed

American Booth

Jeremy: As they come out of the hairpin Soi Fong is leading…and she is having trouble. Massa takes the lead, Harribel to second, Schumacher to second, Kirkland just gets by her as she struggles to regain speed as Yasotora is now fighting her for fourth in the first chicane.

Nate: Looks like her battery failed. These cars have two batteries in their car. If one fails they can switch to a back-up battery. That could be one of three things. All of these fans they have blowing to cool down the car could be draining the battery. Second is that the sand could have interfered with that connection it is very windy out there. Third is her alternator could be going bad (I will explain at the end). Any way you slice it she could be having a bad day soon.

Two laps later the situation hadn't changed much as Soi Fong had fallen to 5th. And unfortunately for her crew chief his ears were bleeding.

"(BLEEP) WHAT THE (BLEEP) HAPPENED WITH MY CAR! OMEDA WHAT THE (BLEEEP)

"_Sorry mam…we are trying to diagnose it but you might have to come in to have a look"_

"Next caution if I make it that far. I am not going to give up my track position" the queen bee said and ended the conversation as she went down the pit stretch.

Back with Kurosaki team five laps later, Ichigo was now in eighth; Uryu was in 6th now closing in on Soi Fong. Andrew was now behind Grimmjow in 12th and 13th respectively. After about 20 laps of battling with the cocky bastard blocking him, Andrew was losing his patience.

"If that egotistical bastard doesn't quit blocking me like this I am going to wreck him, screw the consequences Kisuke." Andrew growled going into turn eleven

"_Now, now calm down" _Kisuke said with a sweat drop. "Kisuke there are only three people that can legitimately calm me down while I'm driving and you aren't Southern, American or have brown hair.

"_Okay Andrew calm down or I am making you come in and switch with Shinji, the heat is already getting to you" _Andrew sighed as he came around the pit road and tried to pass again. "Sorry Kisuke" Andrew said as he was blocked again. Looking at the gauges he saw the water temps were a little elevated but still in the green as he passed Kirkland for 10th.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow was still blocking Andrew heading into the hairpin turn 7. "Heh…momentum effectively stopped time to leave this loser in the dust" Grimmjow said starting climbing through the gears. But when he hit fourth gear something broke in the engine.

"What…$^ %" Grimmjow yelled as all of the gauges went to zero. The car then filled with smoke blinding him. Outside the car a huge plume of smoke came out from underneath the car. Andrew trying to pass Grimmjow on his left saw the smoke and quickly got around him as the panther man slid into the sand.

"Damn there goes 10 bucks. Kisuke mind relaying to Ichigo he won our little wager" Andrew relayed to Kisuke. "_Uh…sure" "I heard you and the Uryu is cussing up a storm" _Ichigo said overhearing their conversation.

Kommamura: And trouble on the stretch between 7 and 8 it's our pole sitter Grimmjow in the run off a ton of smoke billowing from his car

Jushiro: He definitely had a car to beat but he got stuck in the back and I guess all of that weaving got something stuck in the engine. He was also running some tape over the engine ducts. That could have been something in the transmission as we take a look at the replay and we see as going from 3rd to fourth something broke and hit one of the lines in the engine.

Kommamura: As we hit lap 51 the pits are going to be busy this time, as the leaders come in for changes Kiyone we go to you.

Kiyone: Tier is saying she is getting a little loose at the end of the run a half a round down on the trackbar. Flippe is complaining of a tight car an air change in the left sides and four tires is what they are going to give him. Ichigo is complaining of a similar car he is getting a slight trackbar adjustment four tires and water and he's away. Schumacher is saying the car is coming to him at the end of the run but it is the start of the run that is giving him trouble. Four tires and a slight air pressure change.

Jeremy: As they race off pit road the top three stay the same Ulquiorra is up to fourth, Yasotora is fifth Ichigo is sixth. Soi Fong is spending an extra amount of time on pit road as they removed the left rear tire and switching out the batteries as she killed the engine to do so. They are also checking out the alternator. They replaced the battery and she is down and away. I bet she is really not happy.

Nate: Understatement might not be the word here. (Laughter by both)

Back on track Tier was leading the race as they got the one to go signal with cleanup now complete in Turn 8. Off the track Grimmjow was raging in the pits. He only calmed down to give a short interview and then went back

"God damn it stupid engine. And I had a car to win this week" Grimmjow ranted as he turned stuff over.

"Grimmjow" A stern voice sounded and the blue-haired Spaniard stopped ranting. "Aizen-sama what do you want" "Just to see how one of my drivers are doing. What has happened to our engines Syzael?" Aizen said to the pink-haired crew chief. "This one could be blamed on the heat Aizen-sama but I will test all engines before next race." "See that you do Syzael" Aizen said as he walked back to the pit box.

On track they were taking the green flag as Tier hit the turn and sped off down the straight with her teammate sneaking into third as Schumacher was forced to checkup as he went into the run off. Ichigo and Chad were able to get by him before he shut the door on Ikkaku. A little further back Andrew finally got into the top ten going around Maria and was now lined up to pass Earnhardt who through some strategy with only taking two tires, was now 8th. He wanted first but considering where he was on the track he could only gain so much ground with the leaders further down pit road then him.

Two laps later, Andrew got around Dale and was now tracking Vettal who had a faster stop than him. Further up Chad was negotiating turns 13 and 14 as. As speed up to 15 he heard something pop in the engine. Going around 17 felt his engine not go up to as much power as before. He radioed the news to Yoruichi "Yoruichi my engine just lost some power" "_What!?" _said the surprised crew chief. "I heard something pop in the engine might be a cylinder" "_Alright I'll let Isshin know come in next time" _"Roger" Chad said as he steadily lost ground to Ichigo as he fought with Ulquiorra for fourth and was passed by Uryu for fifth. Ichigo saw this and radioed to his dad

"Dad what the heck is going Chad is dropping back?"

"_Yoruichi just told me Chad thinks a cylinder is down. He might be out of this race. I will let the others know."_

"Damn that stinks" Ichigo said as he was still battling with Ulquiorra for fourth.

One lap later Chad came in to the confusion of the announcers,

Jeremy: Chad Yasotora unscheduled stop on lap 55 he was in at the caution what is going on Kiyone.

Kiyone: (Cars in the background) it is not looking good as Chad comes in. I heard that he might have a cylinder down. The hood is up as they check the engine. The engine is off and they are shaking their heads the 66 appears to done for the race. They are pushing the car to the garage they appear to be finished with this race.

Nate: It's a shame but it happens. At least it wasn't a complete blow up like Grimmjow.

Jeremy: Meanwhile on the track Soi Fong is slowing down in the turn 15, looks like that battery issue is rearing its ugly head. Jermaine what's the story?"

Jermaine: (As Soi Fong comes down pit road) it's the alternator it's gone bad, she said to cut their losses and retire. The Kuchiki 002 is done.

In the Japan booth

Kommamura: Just like three of the Japanese engines gave out due to different issues. That should concern the other nine drivers of the Japan teams.

Jeremy: Agreed their strength is efficiency but the high RPM's and the heat it is can cause a serious problem.

About ten laps later Andrew had moved up to seventh Tier was widening her lead to about 9 seconds and Ichigo finally got around Ulquiorra and set his sights on Flippe. Further back in about 16th Maria was panting heavily in her car and she was swerving in and out.

"_Maria what's going on?" _her crew chief asked as she went wide in turn 8. "This…heat, it's killing me….this suit is…burning me alive.

"_Alright we got your driver ready" _outside the crew prepared to replace Maria. Meanwhile a little further up a similar conversation was happening with a much older driver.

"I ain't as young as I used to be boys sorry this heat is really getting to me" "_Roger our back-up driver is getting ready come in next time" _his crew chief said as he passed down the straight.

Japanese Booth

Jushiro: I am hearing reports that at least one driver might be having trouble with the heat. Kiyone what is going on?

Kiyone (As Maria comes) Yes Maria Robertson from Ferrari is coming in she said it is stifling and she cannot continue in this car. She is coming in and would you look at that Mcnish is in unscheduled I think he is changing out as well that does not bode well for the confidence of the other drivers. As we see Maria having to be helped out of the car and Mcnish is getting out of the car back to you Jushiro.

Kommamura: Lap number 60 we are passed halfway and both Mcnish a veteran driver in the 1 and Maria in the 42 a driver of several years have to switch drivers.

Jushiro: Indeed the heat must be getting to some of these drivers. Fortunately they will keep the points they earned because they started the race. We might see some drivers change as we closer to green flag stops.

True to Jushiro's point as they got closer to green flag stops there were radio conversations up and down pit road about the status of the drivers Most of them were complaining about the heat badly especially the American and the European teams with the exception of Serenity and Flippe. Most agreed to assess their conditions and make a decision when they came in.

With Tier still leading on lap 74 she came in and gave up the lead to Flippe who passed her on the stretch. Tier as the leader coming deciding to stay in the car she was ok with the heat. She exited pit road as two of Hendrick cars and one of the remaining Ferraris came in and started to switch drivers. As Tier was going into Turn 12 she heard something that stunned her.

Race Control: _Attention driver of the 003 you are being black flagged next lap. You were too fast entering pit road zone 3. You will have a 30 second stop and go penalty. _

"You have got to be kidding me!" Tier said slamming her hands on the steering wheel coming around turn 18.

American booth

Jeremy: And we have a penalty on the track. Our former leader Tier was too fast entering pit road.

Nate: That just changed the complexion of the race she was running away with this race and she commits a terrible mistake. She is going to have to come in at pit speed of 60 MPH stop in her box for thirty seconds which is about eight or nine spots right now and then go back out. She will be lucky to be in the top 20 as she came out in front of Andrew who was in 6th. As we see Flippe exit 13 his crew chief has said he is coming in this time.

On the radio Isshin just relayed the news to the drivers.

"Really Dad" _Positive Tier made a mistake on pit road too fast entering" _Isshin replied.

"Wow talk about game changer" Andrew said coming into turn 8

"_Andrew you are coming this time by how are you feeling" _"A little heated but I'm good I'm staying" "_Are you sure that's wise" _"If you want to win Kisuke we need to take risks. My temps are good I just need four tires a change in air pressure and water. "_10-4"_

"Dad Ichigo here I'm following Andrew's lead I am staying" "_Alright be careful._

"Father my team needs me right now I will stay." "_Roger" _Ryuken said.

As all three Kurosaki drivers came down the pit reporters were making their reports.

Jermaine: Andrew is the first one he is asking for four tires and water…and he is not going to switch. Andrew is staying in the car. This could be a strategy.

Kiyone: Both Kurosaki cousins are doing the same thing as more drivers are coming in and some of them are switching drivers. Ichigo got a small track bar adjustments and Uryu an air change four tires and water they are going to need it badly right now.

Japan booth

Kommamura: An interesting choice for all Kurosaki drives as they join up with the rest of the racers they are about three seconds behind Flippe who came in and did the same stop with small trackbar adjustment

Jushiro: Racing is all about risks and they are taking a big gamble here. As we see changing your driver means they cannot work on the car while they are changing drivers. Average time is a 1:30 that's to make sure the seats are set and belts are on. Then they make the changes you are looking at a two minute stop. Most that have done this switch have gone a lap down because of this. We are at lap 77 as we see the last set of drivers come in.

Kommamura: As we see pit stops some of the drivers seeing that the Honda kept theirs in, have decided to tough it out.

On track Andrew was steadily gaining on Massa with his teammates right behind him. The changes on last stop made his car's handling so much better than before. On lap 80 he saw his opportunity out of the chicane in 8 9 he out broke Massa and snuck inside the turn.

American booth

Jeremy: And the strategy for the Hondas is starting to pay. It is Michaels to the number one position, Kurosaki looking to get around Massa heading into eleven, Ishida not far behind.

Nate: Thirty laps to go with one more stop to go things are looking good for the Kurosaki team for another sweep of the podium but the temperatures have to be stifling in there.

On track as Nate said the remaining drivers were starting to feel the heat.

"Kisuke what is my fuel situation looking" "_You are not trying a fuel run don't even try it. Everyone has to come in for fuel to make it to the end" _"Roger that Kisuke. Whew…boy it is hot in here" "_How's the engine looking" _Kisuke said. Andrew looked over at his gauges. The important one the engine temp was 240. "Still in the green might be borderline yellow. If I stay out front I think I can make it. (Pant) Kisuke…call me only when necessary ok." "_You Ok" "_Yeah I can make it just hope it stays green… (Pant)"

Kisuke hung up and looked over at the pit crew. "Get ready to switch drivers I don't know if he will make it." Kisuke got the expected reactions from the crew.

"I wouldn't be worried about Andrew" Isshin said walking over to Kisuke. "He's like my son stubborn to the end, at least according to his father. "Just keep him focused, when he's tired he tends to lose a little focus. Also here" Isshin handed Kisuke what looked to be an inhaler "I cleared it with the officials. He might have breathing difficulties when he takes his helmet off give this to him if is. Our drivers are in a good position just keep them motivated.

Kisuke nodded and motioned to get the fuel ready.

About ten laps later the positions were the same but now Tier had come back after nearly going a lap down and was in the top ten. Serenity had cracked the top 5 by going around Ulquiorra but the only car she could catch right now was Massa as the Uryu the third place Honda was at least 12 seconds ahead of him. Tier though was hunting like a shark sensing blood.

'_This race was mine. I was careless…Aizen-sama I will get this victory one way or another' _Tier said as she shifted gears heading down the straight into turn 8.

Three laps later she was now in 7th. Further up Andrew was still leading and was putting a couple of slower cars a lap down.

"_When are you going to come in Andrew" _"Five laps give me enough fuel to make it to the end." "_That's about four and half seconds" _"10…4" "_Are you sure you're ok" "_Kisuke if you think I am getting out of this car now you are insane. Temps just started hitting yellow btw" "_Ease off on the engines you might be slower but its five seconds to Ichigo and about 8 seconds from there to Uryu. At least 25 seconds from you to Serenity who is in fourth" _"It isn't over…I know" Andrew said passing the finish line.

About four laps later all of the drivers were preparing for the fuel stops that were coming.

American booth

Jeremy: Thirteen laps to go we expect at least the front three within the next two to four laps. Andrew is letting up a little more maybe he is having water temp problems.

Nate: He is really trying to hang in there that car has to be hot.

Two laps later Andrew was coming around turn 19 and slowing down into 20 to come into the pit. Ichigo and Uryu were entering 19 and preparing to do the same thing.

"_Easy there it's 65. Don't speed I will talk you down. Pit exit is right before the turn" _Kisuke said. "Thanks" Andrew said a little tiredly as he slowed down onto pit road.

"_5…4…3…2…1…turn now" _Kisuke said as Andrew weaved into his stall and the fuel pump went in. "Wait…wait…go, go, go" Kisuke counted off 4.5 seconds and Andrew sped out of his box. Shortly thereafter Uryu and Ichigo were in having caught up on pit road. Andrew passed Ichigo as he stopped and passed Uryu when he turned off the road. Once at

American Booth

Jeremy: And with ten laps to go the leaders pit. All three Hondas are down pit road this should be fuel only.

Nate: They have enough of a gap on Serenity who I expect to come in next time by as we see Flippe come in. Tier is now up to fifth she is going to have to come in but there is a considerable gap to 6th.

On track Andrew had slowed down his pace to make sure his engine stayed cool. Ichigo and Uryu were staying behind him although Uryu had fallen back. With about five laps to go Tier and Serenity had finally caught up to Uryu and all three were now fighting it out for third. This was exactly what the girls chasing the lead did not want and what the front two wanted.

"Guys I am going to try to hold them off as best I can, but I can't do anything if they give me the blue flag." Uryu said trying to hold off Serenity about five seconds behind Ichigo

"_Got it Uryu" _Ichigo said.

"_No…problem" _Andrew panted.

Two laps later, Tier was able to get around Serenity but when they got to the turn 8 Uryu inadvertently got lose as Serenity dug underneath him got around both of them. Tier slightly went off track but was able to get around Uryu on the outside bumping back to fifth.

"Sorry guys" Uryu said to himself as the girls took off.

Japanese Booth

Kommamura: Two laps this time by as Andrew hearing that Serenity and Tier have gotten around Uryu has picked up his pace. Tier Harribel had the fastest lap as she crossed the line.

Jushiro: Will they have enough time as Andrew enters the hairpin turn. He must be really tired by now.

In his cockpit, Andrew was wheezing by now.

'_Come on girl…just a little more' "_Kisuke I am shutting the fans off engines temps a solid yellow now." "_Come on Andrew white flag next time by." _Andrew didn't acknowledge him which worried him. Turning towards the crew he shouted orders "Get him ice, a whole lot of it.

In his car Andrew was turning off turn 21 and saw the white flag in the air. A new surge of confidence went through him knowing he is almost done. He floored the throttle not even caring as the temps kept rising.

American Booth

Jeremy: Final lap as Andrew heads down the pit stretch towards one he is not caring that his engine might be over heating he wants to win this race.

Nate: Ichigo is still second but both Serenity and Tier are on his bumper as they weave their way towards turn 7 still about three seconds back.

Jeremy: Andrew is going to do it he's in the straight heading towards 11. Just ten more turns and he is going to win here. That engine is pumping steam out

On the track Andrew was now heading towards 14 the whole dashboard started going red.

"Come on…you can do it… just a little more girl" Andrew was wheezing at this point. One last set of turns and he saw the pit straight and the checker flag. He smiled as his car crossed the line

American Booth

Jeremy: AND HE HAS DONE IT. For the first time an American Driver has won in the Middle East as Andrew Michaels heat and all comes home with the trophy. Second place is Ichigo for a one-two Kurosaki podium. Serenity Gordon finishes third for a second American on the podium. Tier fights back for fourth and Ishida holds off Massa for fifth.

(Cheering in the back ground) "_You did great possibly one of the gutsiest calls ever and you won congratulations._" "Thanks Kisuke…hey Kisuke…can I…get an ice cold…root beer float…it sounds…so great right now." Andrew said tiredly. Kisuke chuckled, "_Andrew I think that's what the doctor ordered." _Andrew grinned as went around turn 19 and slowed to turn towards pit road.

The race officials directed him towards victory lane as he eased towards it. He saw his pit crew cheering and clapping as he pulled up. He shut the engine off as he pulled his helmet and HANS device off. Kisuke walked up to him and handed him his inhaler and shook his hand. Thankful for it he took a couple of quick puffs and relaxed as he undid his safety harnesses. After calming down enough he got the strength to finally pull himself out of the car. His whole team was out and they just started dousing him with water and sports drinks as they celebrated another win. After climbing down he was approached by Jermaine.

Jermaine: Unbelievable race by the rookie, Andrew (getting his attention) at the end of that race how did you find the will to go on?

Andrew: You know I don't know. I was content in where I was running no way I could have caught Tier she had the better car. But when we had that pit stop with thirty to go and I heard Tier sped down pit road well I took the chance and stayed in the car and well it kind of paid off.

J: This the first time an American has podium let alone won the race, how does that make you feel.

A: You know I never thought to be a pioneer this early in my career but I will take it thank you Kurosaki for giving me this chance.

J: Two wins for your team as we see Ichigo walk over (sees the two high five each other) is there any message to the other drivers after this win?

A: Yeah we are here to stay watch out.

J: Thanks go back to celebrating. A: Trust me I will as long as the adrenaline holds out. (Laughs and starts cheering again)"

On the podium, Andrew accepted the trophy and held it aloft as the crew surrounded them cheering. Seeing the Champaign bottles he shook it up and then pointed at Serenity. A squeal from her was the only warning he got as both she and Ichigo started spraying him and cooled him off again.

After a grueling desert race, the Kurosaki team is two for two in wins. Souske is zero for two as two mistakes cost them big. Will their fortunes reverse? Find out on the next chapter of Bleach Grand Prix.

Finish order Abu Dhabi (Name, team, points, laps led if applicable, laps down)

Andrew Michaels, Kurosaki 37 points 30 laps led

Ichigo Kurosaki, Kurosaki 35 points

Serenity Gordon, Hendrick, 34 points

Tier Harribel, Souske, 34 points, 22 laps led

Uryu Ishida, Kurosaki, 32 points

Flippe Massa III, Red Bull, 35 points 53 laps led

Ikkaku Madarame, Kuchiki 30 points

Robert Johnson, Hendrick, 29 points

George Schumacher, Ferrari, 28 points

Ulquiorra Cifer, Souske, 27 points

Gin Ichimaru, Souske, 26 points

Michael Kennseth, Rousch, 25 points

Archie Stewart, Stewart-Haas, 24 points

Rebecca Kirkland, Audi, 23 points

Jason Vettal, Red Bull, 22 points

Jessica Rosburg, Ferrari, 21 points

Kira Izuru, Kuchiki, 20 points, 1 lap down

Renji Abarai, Kuchiki, 19 points, 1 lap down

Patricia Stenhouse, Rousch 18 points, 1 lap down

Ralph Dillon, Hendrick, 17 points, 1 lap down

Dale Earnhardt IV, Hendrick, 16 points, 1 lap down

Bjorn Kristensen, Audi, 15 points, 1 lap down

Michael Busch, Stewart-Haas, 14 points 1 lap down

Brian Mcnish, Audi, 13 points, 1 lap down

Francesca Alonso, Red Bull, 12 points, 1 lap down

Maria Robertson, Ferrari, 11 points, 1 lap down

Shawn Newman, Stewart-Haas, 10 points, 1 lap down

Jason Webber, Red Bull, 9 points, 1 lap down

Marcus Andretti, Stewart-Haas, 8 points, 2 laps down

Raoul Garcia, Audi, 7 points, 2 laps down

Allen Regan, Rousch, 6 points 2 laps down

Alexandria Edwards, Rousch, 5 points, 2 laps down

Soi Fong, Kuchiki, 5 points, 3 laps led

Chad Yasotora, Kurosaki, 3 points

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Souske, 2 points

Ralph Hamilton, Red Bull, 1 point

Team Standings Round 2 of 25

Kurosaki-Ishida: 238 points

Hendrick: 178 points

Souske: 156 points

Ferrari: 154 points

Kuchiki: 148 Points

Audi: 130 points

Red Bull: 130 points

Stewart-Haas: 122 points

Rousch: 115 points

Driver's Points standings Abu Dhabi Round 2 of 25 (Name, Team, Points)

Ichigo Kurosaki, Kurosaki, 75 points

Andrew Michaels, Kurosaki, 71 points

Uryuu Ishida, Kurosaki, 66 points

Serenity Gordon, Hendrick, 63 points

Tier Harribel, Souske 59 points

Ulquiorra Cifer, Souske, 59 points

Flippe Massa III, Red Bull, 58, points

Rebecca Kirkland, Audi, 55 points

Archie Stewart, Stewart-Haas, 54 points

Michael Kennseth, Rousch, 49 points

Robert Johnson, Hendrick, 45 points

Renji Abarai, Kuchiki, 45 points

Dale Earnhardt IV, Hendrick, 43 points

George Schumacher, Ferrari, 40 points

Chad Yasotora, Kurosaki, 36 points

Ikkaku Mandarame, Kuchiki, 36 points

Soi Fong, Kuchiki, 36 points

Patricia Stenhouse, Rousch, 36 points

Brian Mcnish, Audi, 33 points

Francesca Alonso, Ferrari, 33 points

Jason Vettal, Red Bull, 32 points

Kira Izuru, Kuchiki, 31 points

Gin Ichimaru, Souske, 30 points

Marcus Andretti, Stewart-Haas, 28 points

Jason Webber, Red Bull, 27 Points

Shawn Newman, Stewart-Haas, 25 points

Ralph Hamilton, Red Bull, 23 points

Jessica Rosburg, Ferrari 23 points

Bjorn Kristensen, Audi, 22 points

Maria Robertson, Ferrari 20 points

Ralph Dillon, Hendrick, 20 points

Raoul Garcia, Audi 20 points

Alexandra Edwards , Rousch, 19 points

Michael Busch, Stewart-Haas, 15 points

Allen Regan, Rousch, 11 points

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Souske 8 points

**A/N: Done, finally. This chapter would be written. Anyway don't gripe on the standings thing it takes a lot of effort to keep them accurate. So please review kindly**

**New terms:**

**Wedge: This determines how hard the springs in a car are. This is normally not adjusted pre-race because race conditions change. They normally only change one spring but instead of going inside the car they can adjust it with a wrench in the rear window. Normally only one is changed**

**Air Pressure: These adjustments affect the tires. Changing air pressures in different tires at different times can affect how the car handles in turns. They normally start low to allow them to build up with heat.**

**Alternator: One of a few things that can affect a civilian car and a race car equally. The alternator uses the kinetic energy of the engine and keeps the battery charged. If its running properly the only time you would need to charge the battery is if you leave something like the lights running on without the engine running (Personal experience) in which case you need to jump it with cables. If this issue persists then the alternator is going bad. In a normal car it is in the engine compartment. In these cars they are located inside the left rear tire casing in which there are two compared to the one in a normal car. This comes from NASCAR where they can't easily replace the parts like F1 and the sports car series. In the cockpit if a battery goes bad they can flip a switch as seen with Soi Fong and switch to a backup. The battery next to actual engine is the most important component in any race car.****Flags**

**Black Flag: This normally is displayed when a driver unknowingly or knowingly breaks a rule. As seen with Tier she was too fast on pit road. Penalties will vary from stopping on pit road to outright disqualifying the driver. They could also be brought down pit road for equipment issues that might cause other trouble.**

**Blue flag: This flag will normally be displayed when the leader is coming on a slower car in the rear of the field. This is telling the slower car to move over and let the leader pass.**

**Preview: With the Abu Dhabi victory, the organizers of the race has given Kurosaki drivers a three day stay at one of their resorts. After a race like that they deserve some peace and tranquility. As they have fun,they are being watched what will happen find out.**

**Next chapter: Relaxing and adventuring**

**UO: Again review kindly don't flame me especially if you don't have a story. Next update is my Journey story.**

**Until then **

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**


	6. Downtime equals Reflection

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**

**Ichigo: Where is our author?**

**Orihime: I think he said something about homework, exams and Pokémon X whatever that is.**

**UO: Yes Orihime School is kicking my butt and Pokémon X came out so I have been busy. Besides I sent you the memo to hang out with my Journey cast.**

**Tatsuki: Yeah, they were good kids even though they were a little young.**

**UO: Well heads up then I am going to de-age everyone except Andrew and have you guys work together in a future story.**

**Orihime: It will be nice to work with them I wonder what will happen.**

**UO: A Secret even to you guys. You aren't going to be in my next story in that series it will be the third one.**

**Andrew: What will happen to me?**

**UO: That is a good question. The way I see it somehow I have to clone Tatsuki. **

**Tatsuki: Why?**

**UO: You will be an integral in that story and I don't want to separate you two. You have chemistry. As for Andrew I will put him in another story maybe the academy story I have up.**

**Andrew: (sigh) OK**

**UO: Buck up man I'm not going to cut you lose that easily. Besides I still have a long way to go here. We aren't even in Round 3 where the poll apparently didn't work (Grumbles). Anyway plot wise I decided Malaysia will be Round 3 and Korea will be Round 4 followed by Japan. Considering their placement I am going to have those tracks in three straight chapters to show the effort it takes for racing. I am going that at least three possibly four times, because of where some of the races are. F1 typically does this for logistical reasons as they have over twenty races in a season and they don't race every week. NASCAR goes with two or three weeks off from the end of February to the week before Thanksgiving which is November in America, granted they are in the same country. Readers look up the tracks if you aren't familiar with them. Alright disclaimer please.**

**Renji: Gladly, UnitedOsprey1991 doesn't own Bleach Tite Kubo does. He also doesn't own the various real life teams he is using, the manufacturers, the tracks or the hypothetical future grandchildren of the various drivers. Only Andrew, Raoul, Maria, and Rebecca are his and Rebecca is up for debate.**

**Ichigo: WHERE DID YOU COME FROM (Flips a table for no reason.)**

**Renji: I have been here the whole time Kurosaki. But in your rambling you were obviously blind to not see the awesome me.**

**Ichigo: Grr (starts attacking Renji and somehow destroys the studio causing everyone to sweatdrop)**

**UO: (Sigh)**

**Andrew: Are you going to stop them?**

**UO: No…I needed this after what I have been through. Anyway as stated in last chapter this will be a fun little chapter get some development and some interaction. This actually helps me because the exams drained the creative juices out of me. Alright on with the show.**

Normal: Dialogue

_"Italics and quotations": Radio and track announcer_

'_Italics and apostrophe': Thoughts_

**Bold: Yelling**

**_Bold and Italics: Yelling in head:_**

Name followed by a colon: In-race TV Announcer

Chapter 4: Downtime equals Reflection

Last time the World Grand Prix was hosted at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the desert heat, it looked like Tier Harribel from Souske Limited was going to win as engines blew, tempers flared and energy depleted. But a costly mistake helped set up the Kurosaki Hondas especially the 91 of Andrew Michaels who through perseverance despite the heat was able to become the first American in the history of the World Grand Prix to not only podium but to win the race. Ichigo was able to grab second and fellow American Serenity completed the podium. Now with the race and the interviews over, the race organizers gave the drivers a two night stay at one of the local resorts, all expenses paid.

When Ichigo, his sisters, Uryu, their fathers, Andrew, Tatsuki and Orihime checked in they were greeted very warmly by the reception and their bags filled with three days of clothes and other necessities were taken up to their rooms. They got up to the room they were amazed at the opulence of the room. It was similar to a penthouse suite with four different rooms branching from a main room with a kitchen area near the door. The main room had a large couch, a flat screen T.V and a large glass sliding window which overlooked the futuristic capital city which looked beautiful in the desert night. After tipping their porters, they settled into the room as they cranked out the wine that came with the room and the meals that came with them.

They all grabbed a glass, the twins got sodas because of their age while everyone else got poured a glass.

"I would like to purpose a toast." Isshin said to the gathered group. "To Kurosaki-Ishida, may our fortunes be always in our favor (Hunger games reference completely unintentional. Don't own).

"KEMPAI" the clanked their glasses as the screen fades out

After taking a sip, Andrew was the first to comment "I don't know how I got through that but I am glad that I got that first win out of the way." A raised glass from those gathered was the response he got.

Uryuu adjusted his glasses "I will admit that race was really tough. Honestly given how Ms. Harribel was eating through the competition she was going to win."

Ichigo tched. "Uryuu you are such worrywart." Uryuu growled but said nothing.

Ryuken then asked stoically. "I have to ask Andrew why did you choose to stay in your car.

Said driver was silent then spoke. "My father told to finish what I started. If I quit when it got tough then what. I wouldn't be here. Ichigo you know that better than anyone." Andrew said taking another sip of his wine.

Ryuken nodded satisfied for now. Andrew stood up. "Sorry guys love to stay and chat but I am going to hit the showers and then go to bed. Good night y'all." Andrew said finishing his glass and went to the room he grabbed.

Yuzu yawned. "Looks like we are going to hit the hay as well. Orihime, Tatsuki try not to disturb us when you go to bed." Karin said as she and her twin went to the room the girls were going to share.

Chad was next he didn't have as much to drink and wasn't in the car as long but he was just tired. This left the two father-son duos.

Isshin turned to his son. "You've done well the first two races son. A win and a second place finish. Solidly in first and taking names.

Ichigo chuckled "Nothing to it." Isshin shook his head "Don't get cocky. It's still a long season." Isshin said taking a sip of the wine.

Ryuken turned to his son. "You have done well supporting your teammates. I know you will win eventually."

"I just have to be patient father." Uryuu said nodding. Ichigo yawned and stood up. "After a race like that I think Andrew had the right idea I'm going to bed. Dad please don't do anything stupid."

"When have I done anything stupid." Isshin said with mock hurt expression.

"May I remind you of your daily attacks on your son that you claim is for his benefit." Ryuken said pushing up his glasses.

"I plead the fifth and make no promises." Isshin said childishly.

"YOU'RE NOT IN AMERICA YOU DON"T GET THE FIFTH AMENDMENT!" Andrew said suddenly throwing a wrench from out of nowhere at Isshin knocking him down. Isshin collapsed knocked out.

"Weren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Ichigo asked with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry, I was about to, but my idiot detector was going haywire ." Andrew said. Looking at Isshin he asked the question. "Is he going to be alright?"

"Yes just leave him, you guys have a good night's sleep." Ryuken said as he went into the room he and Isshin shared. Uryuu went to the same room as Chad while Ichigo walked up to Andrew and went inside.

The room was about three times the size of Ichigo's room. It had two queen size beds and a nice bathroom with a large shower. (Think hotel rooms you would find at a normal hotel except they had a larger bathroom.) Andrew had already picked out the bed closest to the window where he was trying to understand the Arabic language on the channel. He changed it to a sports channel and just so happen to be highlights of the race. He looked on as they covered the different things he did and even scrutinized the decision to stay out. They held his post-race interview and he just looked perplexed at his interview. He calm and collected completely opposite off screen.

He was only snapped of his thoughts at Ichigo's voice.

"Hey man your spacing out there. Anything wrong?" Ichigo said. He had apparently finished in the shower as he was wearing sleep shorts and wiping his hair down.

"Huh…oh yeah, I'm fine." Andrew said turning his attention back to the T.V as the analysts broke down the race while Ichigo sat on his own bed.

"Its surreal" Ichigo looked over at Andrew who was still glued to the screen. "What is?" Ichigo asked.

"I see the interviews and I see this person that is supposed to be me, on the inside I was nervous but the screen showed me all jubilant and happy. It's like I'm seeing a different person. You know me off the track, my behavior is not this." Drew said climbing up his bed and laying down under the sheets.

Ichigo sighed. "I know what you mean. As we continue to do well we are getting more and more popular. But we got to take it with a smile dad said."

Drew looked over "We aren't going to be those people that are mean to the fans now are we?"

Ichigo laughed "Nah I think we will be alright."

Andrew looked at the ceiling "What's your drive Ichigo?"

"What?"

"Your reason for driving, I'm sure every driver who's made it this far has one. What is yours?"

Ichigo laid back on his bed. "I don't know. I always liked driving but I never gave a reason for driving. What's yours?"

Andrew closed his eyes. "Originally I wanted to race for fun. I started doing well, I changed it to being the best. Now I'm in the Grand Prix and stuff has changed. But there is one thing that didn't change."

"What was it" Ichigo asked curiously.

Andrew opened his eyes which had tears in them and smiled. "To see the world, racing has opened so many possibilities, we are going to seventeen different countries this year alone. NASCAR allowed me to go to some countries but this will let me see the world. Each year they go to different tracks and as long as I'm up in the Grand Prix, I will see the world, win, lose, hurt or healthy. I just want to travel and race. If I wasn't driving I would be teaching the world Ichigo. You know history is my passion, now I can experience what few get to do in their lifetimes." Andrew chuckled "Not bad for someone who's dream was nearly crushed."

Ichigo heard his words and started thinking on what was said.

Andrew yawned. "Anyway good night…this has been a long day." Andrew said closing his eyes.

Ichigo stayed up for a few minutes as he thought about what Andrew said.

'_Do I have a purpose in racing?'_ Ichigo thought. He looked back and remembered that his mother helped start his dream. She was with him through the first couple of years of his career in midget car racing. Then tragedy struck when he was eight, when his mother was killed when a drunk driver crashed into them. He was in the car and if it wasn't for the fact that he was in the back of the car he would have been killed too. So it was just him, his father and his two sisters and it was because of her death that he started racing with the idea to honor his mother who helped him. This is how it became a family affair as his sisters became his crew and his father his crew chief. Even more so when Uryu his cousin and Ryuken his uncle started racing like him.

He knew when he started his family had the money to back him and for a while he thought everyone who drove had money too. That changed when he raced in the NASCAR Junior Division which was one of the big steps towards the big racing series in America. He came in all cocky and he won the first race just like the World Grand Prix. But then a funny thing happened. That funny thing was the man sleeping on the other bed in the room. That man was a fifteen year old happy-go-lucky kid who looked like he should have been at some science convention, with how he was awkwardness in public and the fact that he was more hesitant to be friends with people. But on the track, he gave Ichigo a run for his money and that ticked him off. So early in the season, he called out Andrew and the two went to after each other in the media and on the track. A funny thing happened about three months into that season however. Ichigo remembered there was a stock market crash. He noticed that several of the teams that had started the season had dropped out by the end of the season and he didn't know why. It wasn't until he confronted Andrew at the Flemington race track that he knew. He didn't like Ichigo because he thought that having money was the key to his success. The driver who looked so composed on the track was on the verge of crying when he told them he and his dad only set a certain amount of money aside for the season and he would quit racing if that money ran out. Ichigo apologized profusely and Andrew waved it off. After a few moments of calming down he started talking about missing some root beer place up the road from the track. Ichigo had asked him about it and as they say the rest is history as they buried the hatchet over time.

The friendship was cemented by the end of the season and when Andrew was spun out on the last lap and the jerk took the title, he was the one that rallied the drivers after the officials stripped Joshua of the title, to give the trophy to Andrew, stating if Andrew wasn't spun out he would have won. He was also the one that lead the charge to help push Andrew's car across the line. From then on they were good friends and when Andrew declared his intention to attempt to get into the World Grand Prix, well Ichigo convinced his dad to give Andrew a shot. Isshin did so after last season when they got promoted to the top tier and Jushiro Ukitake announced his retirement prior to the end of the season. Andrew was ecstatic when he got the call and agreed, signing a contract and now they were here.

Ichigo's last thoughts was to the two reporters they were traveling with, Tatsuki and Orihime. Tatsuki after getting to know her a little bit was like a third sister, an aggressive tomboy of a sister that had more in common with Karin. She was friendly enough but wasn't afraid to bite back. He noticed her subtle glances at his roommate and wondered how to get the two together.

When he thought of Orihime his heart started speeding up. That smile of hers just made his day look a little better. Her long orange hair a little darker than his just seemed to suit her. Her chest got a little more attention than he wanted to admit but she was very shy to show off her body. Her fire suit just seemed to be perfect on her and he won't admit it to his father but he had a crush on Orihime. Ichigo fell asleep thinking about several things but he figured he would find the answers in due time.

Next day

Ichigo got up early the next morning. By the clock and the light underneath the blinds it was barely 7 o'clock local time. One thing he was started to hate about the Grand Prix was the constant time zone changes. Throwing on one of his shirts he walked into the main room. Looking around he figured he was the only one up, which is why the open sliding door to the balcony was open. Investigating he found Orihime leaning on the rails with her camera out in one of the hotel robes. The lighting of the landscape seemed to have caught her attention and from her vantage point the city seemed to come alive for her camera.

"Hey Orihime." Ichigo called out. Orihime squeaked and bobbled he camera, catching it she was tipped over the edge. Ichigo on instinct tried to catch her and pulled her in only to land on his back with Orihime straddling him. They both blushed at the proximity to each other and were thankful for the early morning as they didn't want to be caught like this. The recovered and agreed to forget about the incident for now.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare ya." Ichigo said as Orihime went back to her photography after making sure her camera was o.k.

"Don't worry Kurosaki-kun I was so focused on the beauty of this city in the morning, that I didn't expect anyone up in the morning. Hahahaha" Orihime said laughing.

Ichigo smiled at her laugh and looked over the edge of the balcony. Seeing the sun begin to creep over the horizon he heard a distinct horn sounding throughout the city. (For those that don't know they do that when they call Muslims to prayer. This early in the morning is one of the five distinct times they do this.)

"I wonder what that was? I hope nothing bad is happening?" Orihime asked a little worriedly.

"I don't think anything happened. It might just be a regular occurrence in this city." Ichigo said. Looking over at her he couldn't help to ask the question. "Inoue-chan what exactly got you into photography or even reporting for that matter.

Orihime lowered the camera and sighed. The resort they were staying at was close to coast. Even this high up the Persian Gulf was sending a nice warm breeze which flowed through her hair. Ichigo noted it made her look very pretty. He shook his thoughts as Orihime had gathered her thoughts.

"I was always the shy girl in school. It didn't help matters that I was an early bloomer and wasn't confident in my appearance. The girls would make fun of my hair and the boys would just ogle me. Tatsuki defended me more often than not and helped me defend myself that's how we became friends and offered me to stay with her family when my brother died. " Orihime said then looked down. "I was given a camera for my fifth birthday by my brother Sora, my guardian because my parents died when I was little. I took pictures of everything I saw. When my brother died when I was eight, I hid behind the camera lens as a way to remember my brother and to hide my insecurities. I became really good and I joined the school photography club to continue my passion. When it came time for my major, the choice was obvious to go into journalism."

Ichigo nodded at that. "My brother told me two things before he died. One was to never care for what people said about my hair and that it was beautiful to never hide. He gave me these hairpins (think the ones that hide her Shun Shun Rikka) to keep it out of my eyes. The second was to never give up my passion, the world was beautiful despite all of the development they have and my camera was going to catch it all. My dream is to photograph as much as I can, that's why I took this job." Orihime looked up and smiled.

Ichigo looked over the balcony and smiled "That's a nice dream. I guess everyone has one huh." Orihime giggled at that response.

They heard rustling behind them and saw Andrew walking out of the room.

"Damn mosques, I respect Muslims as much as the next guy but do these calls to prayer have to be so early in morning." Andrew grumbled rubbing his head. He looked up to see the two close to each other. "Am I interrupting anything?" Andrew asked a raised eyebrow. The two red heads sputtered out refusals. He shook his head and turned on the flat screen to catch the morning news.

Later that day

After breakfast an agreement was for most of the group to spend at least part of the day wondering the city and taking in the sights. Isshin and Ryuken wanted to check on the transporters so they could take off the first thing next day and Chad agreed to help them. Ichigo agreed to look after his sister and Orihime tagged along. Uryuu wanted to catch up on some reading and was going to be at the pool area for some of the day. Tatsuki and Andrew decided to explore together as well; when called out on the coupling Andrew and Ichigo gave Isshin a brain duster to the giggling of Orihime and the exasperation of Tatsuki.

Tatsuki and Andrew were wondering through a park area near the financial district. Having walked after taking a taxi to the area they were amazed at the architecture and greenery for such a large city.

Tatsuki had taken pictures of the parks as they walked and was video-taping their walk. Andrew though was looking at the recovered scenery and at the happy people

"It's crazy." Andrew said talking to the camera. "Twenty years ago this city was almost decimated by war. If it wasn't for their neighbors then this whole area plus countries like Qatar and Bahrain would have been swallowed up. (This is 2070 remember) Now it looks like a war never happened." He said seeing an Arabic family praying on their carpets. (Not sure what they are called.) Abu Dhabi and Dubai have truly become world cities. Not bad for a country not even on the map a hundred years ago.

Andrew and Tatsuki continued their walk as they went to a local market area. Andrew was browsing through wares and happened to come across a pearl stand.

"I've read pearl diving around here is some of the best in world. They a diamond's a girl's best friend but something about pearls just catches the eye." Andrew said picking out a set of earrings and a necklace. He whistled at the price but paid it nonetheless.

"Souvenir hunting, always want something from my travels. This is going to my mom when get back to Japan. Thank you." He said to the shop keeper taking the offered bag. They waved good bye and continued on their way. They looked around some more and headed back to the hotel. Along the way they ran into some race fans of multiple ethnicities and of both genders who wearing shirts with his face a. He laughed when they asked him for his autograph and then took a few pictures with him. When the fans left he turned to Tatsuki. "Well now I guess we are getting popular wonder how Ichigo handled this." He then looked and saw Ichigo's group and waved to them and started walking over.

While Andrew and Tatsuki were exploring the city

Ichigo was with Orihime and his sisters. Whereas the couple went towards the city they went out towards the coast and the harbor. The twins or at least Yuzu looked at all of the stands in wonder while Karin just smiled as Yuzu went from stand to stand. Orihime was smiling at their enthusiasm.

Ichigo smiled at the twins and laughed when Yuzu brought him over to a clothing stand. Orihime laughed and brought out her camera to take some pictures of Yuzu and Karin tried to get him to try some of the clothes.

After putting the stuff back they walked and saw they were at the harbor area. Seeing all of the fishing boats reminded them of Japan's fishing industry and how it went down when most of the game fish were endangered or went extinct (Real problem nowadays.) It was shortly after his argument with Andrew, that Ichigo went home and took a walk around the fishery a few miles away from his town. Most of the ships were docked, the marketplace was dead, and the town was dying. He was living in luxury where most of the fisherman could barely feed their families. He convinced his father to help donate some money to the town; he finally understood somewhat what Andrew tried to tell him and understood what some of the less-funded teams were going through.

He was shook from his thoughts by a camera click and a feminine giggle. Orihime was laughing as she had taken a picture of him thinking.

"Sorry Ichigo but that look just had to be taken." The twins giggled at his expression. Orihime than took a picture of all three siblings who smiled in it with all of the ships in the background

"Alright now it's your turn you two." Karin said and the two red head blushed red at that. They stood a little bit apart as Yuzu took the camera.

"Oh come on you two get in closer." Yuzu said with a pout. Orihime just stood there but Ichigo wrapped an arm around her shoulder getting a squeak out of her. Yuzu took a picture of the couple who were still blushing especially Orihime whose face was darker than her hair. Calming down they decided to head back to the hotel and meet up with the others for lunch.

On their way back they passed through another area close to where Tatsuki and Andrew were. They heard their friends calling and they proceeded to walk back to the hotel.

After lunch, they decided to spend some time at the pool. Ichigo and Andrew quickly changed into their trunks and were waiting by the lightly populated pool area. Well Ichigo was on the edge in his black swim trunks Andrew was on at a table with a root beer in his hand wearing blue and white trunks. Uryuu was on a chair nearby reading in his white t-shirt and blue trunks. Chad was entertaining some ladies off to the side with his muscles

"What could be taking those girls so long?" Ichigo said.

Andrew nodded, "I know they often take a long time. I figure Orihime would be taking the longest she gives off the vibe she is extremely shy."

Uryuu tilted his glasses "Ichigo just be patient. Good things come to those who wait a wise man once said" he said causing Ichigo to glare but the blue haired driver ignored it.

Andrew looked up and saw Chad showing off. "Never took Chad for a playboy." Ichigo looked over at Chad who just flexed his muscles to the giggling of some the foreign girls in his presence. (Personally I think Chad could pull some of this off if he were a little more assertive) "Yeah…go figure; he had to leave the country to find attention. Chad was a bit of an outcast in school. I happen to come across him being picked on. This happened to be after your little tirade against me. Let's just say you have more an impact on this team forming than you realize.

Andrew grinned and brought the bottle up to his lips "I guess it was just the right timing that all of us happened to know each other." Andrew took a sip as he looked towards the entrance of the pool area only to choke on the drink at the sight that greeted him. His coughing caught the attention of the two boys and looked in that direction. Uryuu's book fell to pool tiles while Ichigo's face heated up.

It was at that moment Tatsuki, Orihime and the twins walked in. Yuzu was wearing a pink one piece and it showed her developing figure nicely. Karin was wearing a black one piece and she had sunglasses on her head. Tatsuki was wearing a black two piece that was tied in the back and showed her muscular yet very feminine frame. Orihime though is what drew Ichigo's attention. She was wearing a white two piece which was tied around her neck. Her breast were covered nicely but her complexion seem to enhance her figure. Her hair was tied up but it just made her look cute. Orihime saw Ichigo's gaze and turned her head shyly away. Tatsuki though coaxed her to where the boys were ad she felt embarrassed to be there as it seemed every eye was on her. When she walked up to where the boys were there were jealous looks of both genders directed at them.

Ichigo snapped out of his stupor when Orihime looked at him. "So…how do I look?" Orihime said shyly.

Ichigo gulped and stuttered uncharacteristically, "Y-you l-look g-great." Ichigo said which got her to smile. It was at this Andrew recovered from his coughing fit, and started laughing.

"Oh man who knew the mighty Ichigo Kurosaki could be so flustered by a girl." Ichigo growled but then smiled as he walked over to him and picked him up. Through his protests, Ichigo just chucked him into the pool. When he surfaced everyone was laughing in their group was laughing. He swam over to the edge where Tatsuki attempted to help him up. Tatsuki caught a glint in his eye and before she could think she was pulled under with a yelp. Tatsuki sputtered in the pool and now everyone was laughing at her. She mock glared at Andrew who was chuckling at her face. "You're not setting anyone on fire Tatsuki." Andrew said only to be splashed with water causing him to growl but returned the smile.

After that little exchange they enjoyed themselves. It was the off season for the hotel so there weren't a lot of people to bother with. Andrew and Tatsuki played around with an American football Andrew had brought with him on the trip. They managed to get Ichigo, Chad and Uryuu into this and they were splashing around trying to get it. Karin even got into and Orihime was there videotaping it on side of the pool with her waterproof camera. After a bit they started relaxing around the pool. Orihime was up at the table they picked out watching them swim around. Andrew and Ichigo came by to get snack and drink orders and walked away for a few minutes. Orihime had blushed slightly at Ichigo's body wet from the pool and watched them leave. Yuzu saw that look and smiled, she knew Orihime and her brother were slowly falling for each other but her big brother was stubborn. She shook her head and brought out a deck of cards to play Orihime. They were in the middle of a game of Gin when they were interrupted by a man who walked over. The man looked European possibly north European mixed with Arabic features looked at the girls especially Orihime with a look of lust.

"Well Madame must I say you look lovely today. Who are your pretty friends here?" He said to Orihime. She tried to walk away but he cornered her. She looked around and saw Ichigo and Andrew were nowhere to be found and Uryuu and Chad had gone back to the room. Tatsuki her dependable guardian went to the bathroom and Karin seeing the commotion started swimming over.

"Please go away, I don't want any trouble." The man grinned and wrapped an arm around Orihime who flinched from the touch. Karin had climbed out of the pool at this point and walked over and grabbed the hand off of Orihime. "What is your problem buddy leave her alone?"

The man turned toward the Karin and got a good look at her twin and grinned. "Well now three beautiful girls might be my lucky day." He was going to make another comment when a welcomed voice broke the stand off

"Can I help you buddy?" Ichigo asked as he was carrying some drinks with him. Andrew was carrying the food but he sat it down and stood behind Ichigo.

"Yeah you can start by standing aside and letting a real man show these girls a good time." He leered. Ichigo growled "I don't think you want to do that."

"What are you their boyfriend?" Another one asked.

"No…but two of them are my sisters" Ichigo answered pushing the guy back.

He growled "Do you know who I am. I am the heir to the fortune of the British Solar Corporation I could sue you for every penny you own." The man said.

To his immense shock all six of them laughed even the serious looking black hair girl.

Andrew recovered first "British Solar? Wait…aren't you the guys that control 60% of the British Solar Production. Let's see I believe the net worth was…200 billion pounds which is about $323 Billion American Dollars, 234 billion euros and about 31 trillion yen, Ichigo how much revenue did your dad's company make last year?"

The man's faces paled at that. It was Karin who answered "I saw the numbers it was close to 800 billion Yen. That is about $8 trillion American Dollars, 5 Trillion pounds and close to 6 trillion euros. Granted the Yen is a much bigger conversion and a lot of our money goes to charity now about 30% of the profits after taxes and expenses. The profits were close to 100 Billion Yen we still live pretty well." (This was the conversion when I wrote this).

The man took another look and started sputtering "Y-your Ichigo Kurosaki the driver from the World Grand Prix, hehehe, I am a huge fan of yours. Uh…look this is all a big misunderstanding can we put this behind us.

Ichigo walked over and lifted him up "You know I could have ignored this but you hit on my sisters so why don't you make like water and cool off." Ichigo said sending the man flying.

The leader sputtered as he surfaced. "Y-you haven't seen the last of me. I just hope we never see you in Britain." He took off running.

Ichigo scoffed "Yeah I hope we don't run into you either." He was jolted out of his thoughts when Orihime glomped him.

"Ichigo Thank you for helping us." Orihime said into his back. Ichigo smiled "Anytime Orihime. Yuzu, Karin are you alright?" The twins nodded and Tatsuki who just walked back had a worried look on her face.

"Hime are you ok I saw what happened?" she said checking her over.

Orihime just laughed at her friend. "We're fine Tatsuki-chan."

With the jerk gone they resumed their poolside activities. After another hour everyone except the red-heads had gone back to their rooms. Ichigo and Orihime were sitting poolside watching the setting sun.

"Wow the sun is so pretty here. I mean Japan is beautiful but something about the ocean and desert is something else." Orihime said in a child-like wonder.

Ichigo chuckled "Yeah it is. It's unbelievable the view here." Orihime stepped out of the pool and grabbed her camera. "Kurosaki-kun…can I take some shots of you. I m-mean not to put this on T.V but to…oh" Orihime blushed heavily. Ichigo smiled and nodded. As Orihime took the pictures Ichigo just took it in stride. She took pictures of him sitting in the pool walking on the pool deck and looking towards the sun. Orihime couldn't help but admire his form as he posed for her camera.

"This would be perfect for our picture album. One set of pictures for the channel one for the personal file." This made Ichigo to laugh.

"Yeah wouldn't want these mixed up now would we" Ichigo said which got Orihime to laugh. "Speaking of which how is the progress on that." He asked her.

Orihime tapped her chin. "We sent the video we took from the first two races and the stuff from between the races. That footage is going to get mixed with the other camera crews and hopefully we have enough for a couple of episodes. Of course the focus is going to spread across all nine teams." Ichigo nodded and then had an idea.

"Inoue-chan…do you mind if I took some pictures of you?" Ichigo stuttered out. It was a wonder the poor red head hadn't past out from blood pressure.

"O-Ok" Orihime stuttered. Ichigo took the camera and started taking pictures. Orihime's shy demeanor in front of the camera just brought out her beauty even more as Ichigo snapped her portrait. A breeze went through her soft hair and he captured the moment. Lying down she gained a little confidence and sent a wink to the camera causing a small blush from the camera. Putting the camera down, Ichigo sighed.

"You know just from being with you it is amazing you haven't had a boyfriend" Ichigo said and then choked as his mind caught up to him.

Orihime's big brown eyes widened and sat up. "What do you mean Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo recovered "I…I mean…you have a sweet personality and you don't flaunt yourself even though you have every right to. It is amazing that you don't have a boyfriend.

Orihime looked away "Most boys didn't want me for my personality. All the rest were scared by Tatsuki."

Ichigo chuckled "Yeah she would do that." Ichigo turned to face the sunset. Orihime embolden by Ichigo's words kissed him on the cheek. When Ichigo felt that he turned to Orihime who was smiling brightly.

"Thank you for that" she said. She giggled at his expression and then walked over to the table which held their towels. She walked out with a slight saunter. Ichigo shook himself out of his stupor and walked after her and went back to their hotel room. The next day they shipped out back to Karakura.

Next Day: Location, Charlotte, North Carolina

Half a world away from where the Kurosaki team was taking a break was a city completely different in size and location. When the World Grand Prix started up and the hydrogen fuel cells took off some cities started growing more because of teams making their headquarters in those cities. In the United States four of them in particular took off. Indianapolis, Indiana home of the IRL was one of them as was Daytona Beach Florida home of the headquarters of NASCAR's various affiliates. Both of those tracks are regular additions on the World Grand Prix as is the case this year. The third city was Nashville, Tennessee to some people's surprise. It became the headquarters for operations of the majority of the lower tier divisions in America due to the fact most of the tracks they ran on were in the Midwestern U.S.

The last city that took off was Charlotte, North Carolina. A population of one million people in 2020 it grew to about four million people by 2070. This was due in part to the large banking sector of the city. The other part was the fact at the time of Grand Prix's founding almost all of the NASCAR teams were based out of that city and the track that resided there. The jobs working the businesses they were attached to that helped drive the city. Like the last ten or so years, three Grand Prix teams make their home, the last time an American team dropped out was Petty Enterprises twelve years prior and eventually Stewart-Haas was promoted. Hendrick Motorsports, Rousch Fenway Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing, the pinnacle of American skill, engineering and performance; all based out of this one city.

We find ourselves at the headquarters of the Hendrick team. At one time this place was nothing more than an R&D facility with a garage for multiple cars in it. Now it was so much more. Similar to the Kurosaki garage it had a workout facility and was updated to hold more than just a few cars and had several offices as well. This was also the HQ for Hendricks's car dealership business; they had six different dealers across North Carolina. Like most of the teams they had businesses on the side, Hendrick just so happened to be a car dealer before the Grand Prix. Now they had expanded into car parts and repairs and were among the first one's that helped adapt old cars to take hydrogen fuel cells. This helped provide the extra money needed to compete regularly in the World Grand Prix. Now this facility had more than just R&D this was also one of the locations where they modified cars. One of the major banks also invested money into this facility and the lowest floor was occupied by a branch of that bank.

A sleek red and black Chevrolet Camaro pulled up to the building. Turning off the car, the driver climbed out of it. It was Serenity Gordon dressed up casually in a white blouse and skinny jeans and black slip on shoes. Looking around she spied a Red Dodge F-150, a blue Corvette and a black Chevy Impala. Cursing under her breath, Serenity quickly made her way through the building to an elevator. Pressing the top floor she impatiently as the elevator climbed to the fourth floor where she had a meeting with her team. The elevator doors opened and she ran to the doors that had their meeting. Opening up she realized she was last one here.

"Well now that the champ has graced with her presence maybe we can get started" a southern voiced drawled. Looking to her right she saw a black haired man with a beard with brown eyes. He was wearing a grey shirt with and blue jeans. On the back of his chair was a jacket. This was Dale Earnhardt IV, the man who has won the Grand Prix's hottest male driver two years in a row and is often in contention for hottest driver with Souske driver Tier Harribel. He is regularly the target of fangirls. Go back far enough and you would see his grandpa was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won the last NASCAR title before the Grand Prix's founding. His father was the first Dale Earnhardt winner of seven NASCAR titles and seventy-six race wins before he was tragically killed in a wreck at Daytona.

"Sorry but my appearance in the city took a little longer than I thought." Serenity said sheepishly.

"Cut it out Dale she is here isn't she" said a lighter but just as southern voice. This man looked like he was in high school with his boyish looks. He was dressed in jeans a blue shirt and had a cowboy's hat in front of him. This was Ralph Dillon who at twenty-three has just as much racing blood as Earnhardt. Except his Great-Great-Grandfather was Richard Childress, the longtime crew chief of Dale Sr. and former car owner of his namesake race team. That team was now in the second tier after winning the previous season thanks to Ralph. However, Hendrick got a hold of him and now he was a Grand Prix rookie just like the Kurosaki team. Dale growled and started arguing with Ralph. If it wasn't the fact they didn't have Japanese features you could have easily mistaken them for the Kurosaki team.

Serenity rolled her honey brown eyes. "Boys" She looked at Robert who shrugged. He was wearing a long sleeved grey shirt and blue jeans and had a bored look on his face. He shaved today which she noted looked nice on him.

"Alright boys…and Serenity settle down we have a few points to cover this week" said a middle aged man, wearing a casual red shirt and white khakis. This was Jonathon Richard Brant, Great-Grandson from Rick Hendrick the original owner of Hendrick motorsports from daughter of his late son who died in 2004.

The four calmed down and sat down. John pulled up a hologram.

"You guys did what you could in the race on Sunday. Serenity got on the podium and Robert finished eighth. Dale and Ralph what happened." He asked looking at the two glaring duo. "I think it's because he's in over his head." Dale said causing a tick mark to show up over Ralph.

"If it was just me being over my head what about those Kurosaki-Ishida folks they have done fine in their first two races. Maybe all of that hair gel got through to your brain." Ralph drawled out.

Before another argument could break out John cleared his throat to interrupt them. "Please save your bickering for after the meeting that is another thing I want to bring up." John punched a couple of buttons and replays of Kurosaki Hondas actions in the previous two races began playing.

"I'm asking you all what do you know about this team?" John asked.

Serenity raised her hand "I think I've had the most interaction with them off the track, well mostly Mr. Michaels. He seems to be a kind person but I've noticed something about him. He has this nervousness around people especially before a race. Now I think it might be him being a rookie, but I have noticed a couple of other things about him. He seems to open up more to his teammates than his reporters and seemed more rattled by the heat in Abu Dhabi. As for the other three, Ichigo seems like a hot head but his skill cannot be understated. Uryuu seems like the cool headed person of team" Serenity walked over to the screen and pulled up footage from Abu Dhabi, during the last race he was keeping me and Tier occupied until the last two laps when Tier was able to get under him and I was able to get around on the outside. As for Chad he seems like a quiet type I haven't seen him shaken much." Here Serenity smiled, "Sounds like certain people I know."

The three boys sputtered at that. Serenity laughed at their reactions.

"Okay thank you Serenity." She nodded to John and sat down. "Anyone else have anything?" When he saw the boys shake their heads he sighed "Alright the next point of business concerns them. The next three races are over in East Asia, specifically Malaysia, Korea and Japan. I have talked with their team leader and he agreed to put us up both with a place to stay and a place to store our cars. So next week we fly to their headquarters and they will pick us up. From there we will travel to each of the races. I am sure Rousch and Stewart-Haas will find similar arrangements but the next three weeks we will bunking at one of their homes.

The group nodded at that. They could make their own judgments about the rookies when they visited

John continued "Alright then the last point of business is the next race. We will be racing at the Sepang International Circuit. Located about 60km south of the capital it has been long time favorite of the fans. Known for sweeping turns and long straights this is a perfect venue for these cars. We start along a very long pit straight you could easily top seventh gear on this straight. You then break into turn one then quickly go into the turn two left hander similar to a setup of the Shanghai circuit but it also goes downhill. Turn three is a sweeping right hander that leads into an almost right angled turn four known locally as the Langkawi curve. Turns 5 and 6 is a very fast chicane and with the g-forces tire ware could become a factor at this track with that combination. 7 and eight are a double apex turn that you will probably take in fourth gear. Beware the bumps here as it could send you into another car. Turn 9 is similar to two except its uphill which goes into 10. 10 is a sweeping left turn that abruptly stops in eleven which goes back right almost requiring braking and turning at the same time. Turn 12 is bumpy but you can run flat out into turn 13 which is a flat right hander but it sets up tricky 14 known as Sunway Lagoon which acts like eleven you need to brake and turn. If you set up properly you can get a good jump on the final straight which leads into the turn 15 hairpin. The pit entrance is in the center of the turn so be careful. Finally the hairpin leads into the pit straight. That is one lap at Sepang.

As he talked he noticed some of the drivers taking notes while the reporter was busy recording the conversation.

"Okay then, I expect to see you on Monday for our flight to Japan. Dismissed" John said as they all got up and left to their own thing. Serenity stepped into the elevator pressed the first floor button. Just as the doors closed they reopened to allow Robert to climb in and let it close.

A few awkward moments later Robert spoke, "So…Andrew Michaels" Serenity shook her head.

"Robert he is just someone who interests me competitively. Although I happen to find him a little cute" Serenity said.

Robert growled "He doesn't look like much Serenity I wonder how Kurosaki got him though."

The elevator opened up and they stepped outside. Serenity turned to look at her longtime friend. "Look Andrew might not seem much but he has shown results so far. When we started we didn't look like much but now one of us is a champion and the other has several wins" Serenity said describing themselves. "As for how Kurosaki got him, I remember reading that he was friends with the owner's son, Ichigo. If you paid attention in the offseason, he was one of the big free agents following last year. When Jushiro Ukitake retired, they signed him. The Kurosaki team is mostly homegrown talent but all four knew each other long before they jumped tiers. We were one of the teams scouting them and if it wasn't for their team suddenly freeing up a space we could have easily been teammates."

Robert looked at Serenity in shock as she walked away. "Serenity"

She stopped "Robert you are a good friend. I don't want jealousy ruining a possible chance to be friends with this team. Andrew is a good driver and a good person. I will see you later." Serenity said getting into her car and driving away.

Robert sighed as he went towards his Corvette and started the engine. '_Serenity…I wish we could be more than good friends…maybe she's right.' _He said pulling out of the parking lot.

As he pulled away other teams around the world were making preparations for the next race. The week off between Abu Dhabi and Malaysia might be needed as they would be racing 6 of the next 8 weeks including the next three. What will happen as they begin the grind that is a racing season? Find out on Bleach Grand Prix.

**End of Chapter**

**UO: Alright that was a good development chapter. Sorry for all of the fluff but I felt it was needed. Anyway next three chapters will be race chapters followed by a break and then three more race chapters so stick around for that.**

**New terms**

**Sepang International Circuit: Locate outside Kuala Lampur Malaysia like many F1 track designed around the turn of the 21****st**** century it is designed by Hermann Tilke. It was opened in 1999, and can run in three different configurations. This race will be run on the full circuit. A variety of racing series use this including motorbikes.**

**Chapter preview**

**With the first race of a back to back stretch the teams descend on tropical Malaysia. But as the rains fall who will survive with their cars intact? Find out**

**Next Chapter: Mayhem in Malaysia**

**Please review kindly and critique anything you find wrong. Also if you guys want a theme song to go with his I got a couple that could fit. Next update might not be for a couple of weeks school is picking up and I have a wedding to go to next week. Anyway**

**OSPREY…SWOOOSH**


End file.
